Microbiota in autoimmunity and tolerance

Koji Atarashi; Kenya Honda

doi:10.1016/j.coi.2011.11.002

Microbiota in autoimmunity and tolerance

Curr Opin Immunol. 2011 Dec;23(6):761-8. doi: 10.1016/j.coi.2011.11.002. Epub 2011 Nov 22.

Authors

Koji Atarashi¹, Kenya Honda

Affiliation

¹ Department of Immunology, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan.

PMID: 22115876
DOI: 10.1016/j.coi.2011.11.002

Abstract

The composition of a host's intestinal microbiota directs the type of mucosal and systemic immune responses by affecting the proportion and number of functionally distinct T cell subsets. In particular, the microbiota composition affects the differentiation of intestinal Th17 cells and Foxp3(+) regulatory T cells, both of which play critical roles in maintaining mucosal barrier functions and in controlling immunological homeostasis. In this review, we discuss the recent advances in our understanding of how the intestinal microbiota affects T cell differentiation and host susceptibility to autoimmune disease.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Review

MeSH terms

Animals
Autoimmune Diseases / immunology
Autoimmunity*
Humans
Immune Tolerance*
Intestines / immunology
Intestines / microbiology
Metagenome*
T-Lymphocytes / cytology
T-Lymphocytes / immunology