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The Role of Microbiota in Immunity and Inflammation

A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Microbiology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 January 2024) | Viewed by 4387

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
UOS Milan Unit, Istituto di Ricerca Genetica e Biomedica (IRGB), CNR, 20138 Milan, Italy
Interests: immunity; senescence; inflammation; autoimmunity; microbiota

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Guest Editor
Department of Medical Biotechnologies and Translational Medicine, Università Degli Studi di Milano, 20089 Milan, Italy
Interests: adaptive immunity; immune tolerance, microbiota dysbiosis; infections, immune-mediated disease; cellular senescence

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Guest Editor
Laboratory of Clinical Immunology and Microbiology (LCIM), NIAID, NIH, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
Interests: immunodeficiencies; immune dysregulation; T cell deficiencies; thymus; microbiota

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Commensal microbiota and the immune system are closely related; indeed, the microbiota takes part in the development, education, and function of the host immune system, which in turn has evolved to ensure host–microbe symbiosis. This alliance allows for protective responses against pathogens and supports regulatory pathways in maintaining tolerance to harmless antigens. On the other hand, environmental factors, host–microbiome interfaces, and a defective immune system can cause microbiota disturbance, leading to dysbiosis, systemic dissemination of commensal microorganisms, predisposition to pathogens invasion, and inflammation. A persistent imbalance in the microbiota’s functional composition contributes to the rise and progression of different human pathologies. In the last few years, advances in multi-omics approaches have increased our understanding of microbiota variations in disease. However, the mechanisms underlying its interactions with the host remain incompletely understood. In this Special Issue, authors are encouraged to focus on the complex role of the microbiota as the regulator of immune response in health and disease. We welcome studies that go beyond the description of changes in microbial communities and provide mechanistic insights into how their interaction with the host physiology translates into control of systemic and tissue-specific immunity.

Moreover, we encourage papers dealing with the refinement of clinical approaches or novel potential therapeutic avenues to preserve or restore microbiota–immune system interplay during pathological states.

Dr. Veronica Marrella
Dr. Barbara Cassani
Dr. Francesca Pala
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • microbiota
  • metabolites
  • antimicrobial peptides
  • innate/adaptive immunity
  • inflammatory diseases
  • infections
  • cytokines

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Review

30 pages, 1661 KiB  
Review
Microbiota and Immunity during Respiratory Infections: Lung and Gut Affair
by Veronica Marrella, Federico Nicchiotti and Barbara Cassani
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2024, 25(7), 4051; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms25074051 - 5 Apr 2024
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Abstract
Bacterial and viral respiratory tract infections are the most common infectious diseases, leading to worldwide morbidity and mortality. In the past 10 years, the importance of lung microbiota emerged in the context of pulmonary diseases, although the mechanisms by which it impacts the [...] Read more.
Bacterial and viral respiratory tract infections are the most common infectious diseases, leading to worldwide morbidity and mortality. In the past 10 years, the importance of lung microbiota emerged in the context of pulmonary diseases, although the mechanisms by which it impacts the intestinal environment have not yet been fully identified. On the contrary, gut microbial dysbiosis is associated with disease etiology or/and development in the lung. In this review, we present an overview of the lung microbiome modifications occurring during respiratory infections, namely, reduced community diversity and increased microbial burden, and of the downstream consequences on host–pathogen interaction, inflammatory signals, and cytokines production, in turn affecting the disease progression and outcome. Particularly, we focus on the role of the gut–lung bidirectional communication in shaping inflammation and immunity in this context, resuming both animal and human studies. Moreover, we discuss the challenges and possibilities related to novel microbial-based (probiotics and dietary supplementation) and microbial-targeted therapies (antibacterial monoclonal antibodies and bacteriophages), aimed to remodel the composition of resident microbial communities and restore health. Finally, we propose an outlook of some relevant questions in the field to be answered with future research, which may have translational relevance for the prevention and control of respiratory infections. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Role of Microbiota in Immunity and Inflammation)
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24 pages, 1911 KiB  
Review
Interplay between Microbiota and γδ T Cells: Insights into Immune Homeostasis and Neuro-Immune Interactions
by Alaa A. Mohamed, Basel K. al-Ramadi and Maria J. Fernandez-Cabezudo
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2024, 25(3), 1747; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms25031747 - 1 Feb 2024
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2202
Abstract
The gastrointestinal (GI) tract of multicellular organisms, especially mammals, harbors a symbiotic commensal microbiota with diverse microorganisms including bacteria, fungi, viruses, and other microbial and eukaryotic species. This microbiota exerts an important role on intestinal function and contributes to host health. The microbiota, [...] Read more.
The gastrointestinal (GI) tract of multicellular organisms, especially mammals, harbors a symbiotic commensal microbiota with diverse microorganisms including bacteria, fungi, viruses, and other microbial and eukaryotic species. This microbiota exerts an important role on intestinal function and contributes to host health. The microbiota, while benefiting from a nourishing environment, is involved in the development, metabolism and immunity of the host, contributing to the maintenance of homeostasis in the GI tract. The immune system orchestrates the maintenance of key features of host–microbe symbiosis via a unique immunological network that populates the intestinal wall with different immune cell populations. Intestinal epithelium contains lymphocytes in the intraepithelial (IEL) space between the tight junctions and the basal membrane of the gut epithelium. IELs are mostly CD8+ T cells, with the great majority of them expressing the CD8αα homodimer, and the γδ T cell receptor (TCR) instead of the αβ TCR expressed on conventional T cells. γδ T cells play a significant role in immune surveillance and tissue maintenance. This review provides an overview of how the microbiota regulates γδ T cells and the influence of microbiota-derived metabolites on γδ T cell responses, highlighting their impact on immune homeostasis. It also discusses intestinal neuro-immune regulation and how γδ T cells possess the ability to interact with both the microbiota and brain. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Role of Microbiota in Immunity and Inflammation)
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