CROSSTALK: IgA producing B cells (green) appear in large numbers in the villi (purple) of the small intestine, where they help keep microbiota from suppressing metabolic functions of the epithelium (gray). AMIRAN DZUTSEV & NATALIA SHULZHENKO
N. Shulzhenko et al., "Crosstalk between B lymphocytes, microbiota and the intestinal epithelium governs immunity versus metabolism in the gut," Nat Med, 17:1585-93, 2011.
Researchers show that three-way talk between the immune system, commensal bacteria and a third component, the intestinal epithelial cells is essential for normal gut function. Husband-and-wife first authors Natalia Shulzhenko and Andrey Morgun, working at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, found that when immune cells are absent or impaired, gut epithelial cells adopt a defensive stance toward the resident microbiota, at the expense of the epithelium's normal fat-absorbing functions.
One of the most important immune cells in the gut is the B cell, which normally releases IgA antibodies into the intestine. Using mice that lacked B cells, the ...
