title: The bilateral responsiveness between intestinal microbes and IgA.
abstract: The immune system has developed strategies to maintain a homeostatic relationship with the resident microbiota. IgA is central in holding this relationship, as the most dominant immunoglobulin isotype at the mucosal surface of the intestine. Recent studies report a role for IgA in shaping the composition of the intestinal microbiota and exploit strategies to characterise IgA-binding bacteria for their inflammatory potential. We review these findings here, and place them in context of the current understanding of the range of microorganisms that contribute to the IgA repertoire and the pathways that determine the quality of the IgA response. We examine why only certain intestinal microbes are coated with IgA, and discuss how understanding the determinants of this specific responsiveness may provide insight into diseases associated with dysbiosis.
authors.affiliation: Maurice Müller Laboratories (DKF), Universitätsklinik für Viszerale Chirurgie und Medizin Inselspital, Murtenstrasse 35, University of Bern, 3010 Bern, Switzerland. Electronic address: andrew.macpherson@insel.ch.
authors.forename: Andrew J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Macpherson
authors.affiliation: Maurice Müller Laboratories (DKF), Universitätsklinik für Viszerale Chirurgie und Medizin Inselspital, Murtenstrasse 35, University of Bern, 3010 Bern, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Yasmin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Köller
authors.affiliation: Maurice Müller Laboratories (DKF), Universitätsklinik für Viszerale Chirurgie und Medizin Inselspital, Murtenstrasse 35, University of Bern, 3010 Bern, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Kathy D
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: McCoy
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000069196:Gastrointestinal Microbiome / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D007070:Immunoglobulin A / Q000276:immunology*; D007422:Intestines / Q000276:immunology* / Q000382:microbiology*
chemical_list: D007070:Immunoglobulin A
keywords: IgA; Peyer's patch; commensal microbiota; follicular dendritic cells; follicular helper T cells; follicular regulatory T cells; germinal centres; isolated lymphoid follicles; somatic hypermutation