title: Acute gastrointestinal infection induces long-lived microbiota-specific T cell responses.
abstract: The mammalian gastrointestinal tract contains a large and diverse population of commensal bacteria and is also one of the primary sites of exposure to pathogens. How the immune system perceives commensals in the context of mucosal infection is unclear. Here, we show that during a gastrointestinal infection, tolerance to commensals is lost, and microbiota-specific T cells are activated and differentiate to inflammatory effector cells. Furthermore, these T cells go on to form memory cells that are phenotypically and functionally consistent with pathogen-specific T cells. Our results suggest that during a gastrointestinal infection, the immune response to commensals parallels the immune response against pathogenic microbes and that adaptive responses against commensals are an integral component of mucosal immunity.
authors.affiliation: Mucosal Immunology Section, Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
authors.forename: Timothy W
authors.initials: TW
authors.lastname: Hand
authors.forename: Liliane M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Dos Santos
authors.forename: Nicolas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Bouladoux
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Molloy
authors.forename: Antonio J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Pagán
authors.forename: Marion
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pepper
authors.forename: Craig L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Maynard
authors.forename: Charles O
authors.initials: CO
authors.lastname: Elson
authors.forename: Yasmine
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Belkaid
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000818:Animals; D001419:Bacteria / Q000276:immunology*; D018988:Bacterial Translocation; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D005408:Flagellin / Q000276:immunology; D041981:Gastrointestinal Tract / Q000276:immunology* / Q000382:microbiology / Q000469:parasitology; D018928:Immunity, Mucosal; D007156:Immunologic Memory; D007411:Intestinal Diseases, Parasitic / Q000276:immunology* / Q000469:parasitology; D007413:Intestinal Mucosa / Q000382:microbiology / Q000469:parasitology; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D054892:Metagenome / Q000276:immunology*; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D018417:Th1 Cells / Q000276:immunology; D013997:Time Factors; D014122:Toxoplasma / Q000276:immunology / Q000502:physiology; D014124:Toxoplasmosis, Animal / Q000276:immunology* / Q000469:parasitology
chemical_list: D005408:Flagellin