Published November 2006
| public
Journal Article
The love–hate relationship between bacterial polysaccharides and the host immune system
- Creators
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Mazmanian, Sarkis K.
- Kasper, Dennis L.
Abstract
This article explores the fascinating relationship between the mammalian immune system and the bacteria that are present in the mammalian gut. Every human is an ecosystem that hosts 10¹³–10¹⁴ bacteria. We review the evidence that immunomodulatory molecules produced by commensal bacteria in the gut have a beneficial influence on the development of certain immune responses, through eliciting the clonal expansion of CD4⁺ T-cell populations. This process seems to contribute to the overall health of the host by offering protection against various diseases and might provide supporting evidence at a molecular level for the 'hygiene hypothesis' of allergic immune disorders.
Additional Information
© 2006 Nature Publishing Group. Published online 6 October 2006. We thank J. McCoy for editorial advice. S.K.M. acknowledges fellowships from the Helen Hay Whitney Foundation (USA) and The William Randolph Hearst Foundations (USA). Work in D.L.K.'s laboratory is supported by funding from the National Institutes of Health (USA). Work in S.K.M.'s laboratory is supported by funding from the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America. We apologize to the many authors whose work could not be mentioned owing to space constraints. The authors declare no competing financial interests.Additional details
- Eprint ID
- 101805
- Resolver ID
- CaltechAUTHORS:20200309-164447490
- Helen Hay Whitney Foundation
- William Randolph Hearst Foundation
- NIH
- Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America
- Created
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2020-03-10Created from EPrint's datestamp field
- Updated
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2021-11-16Created from EPrint's last_modified field