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Home, sweet home: how mucus accommodates our microbiota
Benjamin X Wang1,2, Chloe M Wu1, Katharina Ribbeck1
1Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.
The FEBS Journal
|August 6, 2020
Summary
Mucus maintains a stable, diverse human microbiota essential for health. This viewpoint explores how mucus regulates microbial communities and how barrier dysfunction causes dysbiosis.
Area of Science:
- Microbiology
- Human Microbiome
- Mucosal Immunology
Background:
- Healthy mucus hosts a stable, diverse microbial community crucial for human health.
- Commensal bacteria in mucus provide beneficial functions and prevent pathogen overgrowth.
- Mechanisms of host selection and maintenance of specialized gut microbiota are poorly understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To propose strategies by which mucus regulates the human microbiota's composition and function.
- To discuss the role of compromised mucus barriers in disease-associated microbial dysbiosis.
Main Methods:
- This is a viewpoint article, presenting proposed mechanisms and discussions.
- Literature review and synthesis of current knowledge on host-microbiota interactions in mucus.
Main Results:
- Mucus likely employs several strategies to select and maintain a specialized microbiota.
- Compromised mucus barriers in disease states can lead to microbial dysbiosis.
Conclusions:
- Mucus plays a critical role in shaping and maintaining a healthy human microbiota.
- Understanding mucus's regulatory functions is key to addressing microbial dysbiosis in disease.
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