The antibacterial lectin RegIIIgamma promotes the spatial segregation of 
microbiota and host in the intestine

Vaishnava, S; Yamamoto, M; Severson, KM; Ruhn, KA; Yu, X; Koren, O; Ley, R; Wakeland, EK; Hooper, LV

doi:10.1126/science.1209791

Item

ITEM ACTIONSEXPORT

Add to Basket

Local TagsRelease HistoryDetailsSummary

Released

Journal Article

The antibacterial lectin RegIIIgamma promotes the spatial segregation of microbiota and host in the intestine

MPS-Authors

There are no MPG-Authors in the publication available

External Resource

No external resources are shared

Fulltext (restricted access)

There are currently no full texts shared for your IP range.

Fulltext (public)

There are no public fulltexts stored in PuRe

Supplementary Material (public)

There is no public supplementary material available

Citation

Vaishnava, S., Yamamoto, M., Severson, K., Ruhn, K., Yu, X., Koren, O., et al. (2011). The antibacterial lectin RegIIIgamma promotes the spatial segregation of microbiota and host in the intestine. Science, 334(6053), 255-258. doi:10.1126/science.1209791.

Cite as: https://hdl.handle.net/21.11116/0000-000A-EC86-5

Abstract

The mammalian intestine is home to ~100 trillion bacteria that perform important metabolic functions for their hosts. The proximity of vast numbers of bacteria to host intestinal tissues raises the question of how symbiotic host-bacterial relationships are maintained without eliciting potentially harmful immune responses. Here, we show that RegIIIγ, a secreted antibacterial lectin, is essential for maintaining a ~50-micrometer zone that physically separates the microbiota from the small intestinal epithelial surface. Loss of host-bacterial segregation in RegIIIγ(-/-) mice was coupled to increased bacterial colonization of the intestinal epithelial surface and enhanced activation of intestinal adaptive immune responses by the microbiota. Together, our findings reveal that RegIIIγ is a fundamental immune mechanism that promotes host-bacterial mutualism by regulating the spatial relationships between microbiota and host.