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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 27, 2026

Isolation and Flow Cytometric Characterization of Murine Small Intestinal Lymphocytes

Isolation and Flow Cytometric Characterization of Murine Small Intestinal Lymphocytes

Published on: May 8, 2016

Intestinal microflora and immunoregulation.

M Boirivant¹, A Amendola, A Butera

¹Department of Infectious, Parasitic and Immune-mediated Diseases, Immune-mediated Disease Section, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy. monica.boirivant@iss.it

Mucosal Immunology

|December 17, 2008

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Restoring immune tolerance to gut bacteria may prevent inflammatory bowel diseases. Probiotics can expand regulatory cells, offering protection against experimental colitis by enhancing immune homeostasis.

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Isolation and Flow Cytometric Characterization of Murine Small Intestinal Lymphocytes

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Published on: May 8, 2016

An Intestinal Gut Organ Culture System for Analyzing Host-Microbiota Interactions

An Intestinal Gut Organ Culture System for Analyzing Host-Microbiota Interactions

Published on: June 30, 2021

Area of Science:

Immunology
Gastroenterology
Microbiology

Background:

Immune homeostasis at the mucosal level relies on controlled responses to intestinal antigens.
Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) may stem from a loss of immune tolerance to gut microbiota antigens.
Regulatory cells reactive to the intestinal microflora might offer cross-protective immunity.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the role of regulatory cells in maintaining mucosal immune homeostasis.
To explore the potential of modulating these regulatory cells for therapeutic benefit in IBD.
To understand the development of regulatory cells in response to commensal flora and innate immunity.

Main Methods:

Studies on experimental models of colonic inflammation.
Investigations of mucosal regulatory mechanisms.
Analysis of regulatory cell expansion via probiotic administration.

Main Results:

Probiotic administration expanded microflora-reactive regulatory cells.
This expansion conferred protection against experimental colitis.
Characterization of these regulatory cells is key to understanding IBD development.

Conclusions:

Loss of immune tolerance to gut microbiota is implicated in IBD.
Microflora-reactive regulatory cells play a crucial role in mucosal immunity.
Targeting these regulatory cells, potentially through probiotics, shows promise for IBD treatment.