Commensal ocular bacteria degrade mucins

Commensal ocular bacteria degrade mucins.

BACKGROUND/AIMS Antimicrobial activity in tears prevents infection while maintaining a commensal bacterial population. The relation between mucin and commensal bacteria was assessed to determine whether commensals possess mucinolytic activity, how degradation depends on mucin integrity, and whether mucins affect bacterial replication. METHODS Bacteria were sampled from healthy eyes and contac...

Commensal Bacteria Shape Intestinal Immune System Development

M icrobes have a knack for making us sick. Until recently, many of these encounters proved deadly. In Guns, Germs, and Steel, evolutionary biologist Jared Diamond argues that such interactions were a primary force shaping human history. Therefore, it is not surprising that human-microbe interactions often are viewed through the lens of conflict. The proliferation of antibacterial consumer produ...

Sustained Delivery of Commensal Bacteria from Pod-

Commensal gut bacteria: mechanisms of immune modulation.

Mucosal immune responses to pathogenic gut bacteria and the mechanisms that govern disease progression and outcome have been researched intensely for decades. More recently, the influence of the resident non-pathogenic or 'commensal' microflora on mucosal immune function and gut health has emerged as an area of scientific and clinical importance. Major differences occur in the mucosal immune re...

Commensal Bacteria Regulate Thymic Aire Expression

Commensal bacteria in gastrointestinal tracts are reported to function as an environmental factor to regulate intestinal inflammation and immune responses. However, it remains largely unknown whether such bacterial function exerts any effect on other immune organs distant from the intestine. In this study, the influence of commensal bacteria in the thymus, where T cell lineages develop into mat...