How do flies tolerate microorganisms in the gut?
Although gut epithelia are in constant contact with a large number of microbe-derived immune elicitors such as peptidoglycan, they do not mount an intense immune response. In this issue of Cell Host & Microbe, Lhocine et al. (2008) report that the PIMS gene product induces immune tolerance by reducing the availability of the peptidoglycan receptor in the plasma membrane. These findings provide a novel insight into the molecular mechanisms by which the host gut maintains balanced host-microbe interactions.
Lee
Won-Jae
WJ
Division of Molecular and Pharmaceutical Science and Department of Life Science, Ewha Woman's University, and National Creative Research Initiative Center for Symbiosystem, Seoul 120-750, South Korea. lwj@ewha.ac.kr
D000818:Animals; D004330:Drosophila / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology*; D041981:Gastrointestinal Tract / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology*; D007108:Immune Tolerance