Grant: Project Grant

Our gastrointestinal tract is teeming with life: in humans, it is estimated that for every cell of human origin, there is at least one microbial counterpart and most of these are found within our gut. This collection of resident microbes is called the 'microbiota', and it plays important roles in maintaining immune, neurological and metabolic health. There is a single layer of human cells separating the microbiota from the underlying cells and tissues. These epithelial cells 'translate' the microbiota-derived signals and relay signals to neighbouring and distal immune cells. Epithelial cells are in intimate contact with some resident immune cells, but the importance of epithelial cell derived signals in maintaining immune cell function and localization remain incompletely understood. Our work aims to define these signals, with the intent of providing better understanding of how protective immunity to intestinal pathogens can be generated.