| 1. |
- Arnesen, Henriette, et al.
(författare)
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A Model System for Feralizing Laboratory Mice in Large Farmyard-Like Pens.
- 2021
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Ingår i: Frontiers in microbiology. - : Frontiers Media SA. - 1664-302X. ; 11
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Laboratory mice are typically housed under extremely clean laboratory conditions, far removed from the natural lifestyle of a free-living mouse. There is a risk that this isolation from real-life conditions may lead to poor translatability and misinterpretation of results. We and others have shown that feral mice as well as laboratory mice exposed to naturalistic environments harbor a more diverse gut microbiota and display an activated immunological phenotype compared to hygienic laboratory mice. We here describe a naturalistic indoors housing system for mice, representing a farmyard-type habitat typical for house mice. Large open pens were installed with soil and domestic animal feces, creating a highly diverse microbial environment and providing space and complexity allowing for natural behavior. Laboratory C57BL/6 mice were co-housed in this system together with wild-caught feral mice, included as a source of murine microbionts. We found that mice feralized in this manner displayed a gut microbiota structure similar to their feral cohabitants, such as higher relative content of Firmicutes and enrichment of Proteobacteria. Furthermore, the immunophenotype of feralized mice approached that of feral mice, with elevated levels of memory T-cells and late-stage NK cells compared to laboratory-housed control mice, indicating antigenic experience and immune training. The dietary elements presented in the mouse pens could only moderately explain changes in microbial colonization, and none of the immunological changes. In conclusion, this system enables various types of studies using genetically controlled mice on the background of adaptation to a high diversity microbial environment and a lifestyle natural for the species.
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| 2. |
- Bemark, Mats, 1967, et al.
(författare)
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Induction of gut IgA production through T cell-dependent and T cell-independent pathways.
- 2012
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Ingår i: Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. - : Wiley. - 1749-6632 .- 0077-8923. ; 1247, s. 97-116
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The gut immune system protects against mucosal pathogens, maintains a mutualistic relationship with the microbiota, and establishes tolerance against food antigens. This requires a balance between immune effector responses and induction of tolerance. Disturbances of this strictly regulated balance can lead to infections or the development inflammatory diseases and allergies. Production of secretory IgA is a unique effector function at mucosal surfaces, and basal mechanisms regulating IgA production have been the focus of much recent research. These investigations have aimed at understanding how long-term IgA-mediated mucosal immunity can best be achieved by oral or sublingual vaccination, or at analyzing the relationship between IgA production, the composition of the gut microbiota, and protection from allergies and autoimmunity. This research has lead to a better understanding of the IgA system; but at the same time seemingly conflicting data have been generated. Here, we discuss how gut IgA production is controlled, with special focus on how differences between T cell-dependent and T cell-independent IgA production may explain some of these discrepancies.
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| 3. |
- Jakobsson, Hedvig E, et al.
(författare)
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The composition of the gut microbiota shapes the colon mucus barrier.
- 2015
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Ingår i: EMBO reports. - : EMBO. - 1469-3178 .- 1469-221X. ; 16, s. 164-177
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Two C57BL/6 mice colonies maintained in two rooms of the same specific pathogen-free (SPF) facility were found to have different gut microbiota and a mucus phenotype that was specific for each colony. The thickness and growth of the colon mucus were similar in the two colonies. However, one colony had mucus that was impenetrable to bacteria or beads the size of bacteria-which is comparable to what we observed in free-living wild mice-whereas the other colony had an inner mucus layer penetrable to bacteria and beads. The different properties of the mucus depended on the microbiota, as they were transmissible by transfer of caecal microbiota to germ-free mice. Mice with an impenetrable mucus layer had increased amounts of Erysipelotrichi, whereas mice with a penetrable mucus layer had higher levels of Proteobacteria and TM7 bacteria in the distal colon mucus. Thus, our study shows that bacteria and their community structure affect mucus barrier properties in ways that can have implications for health and disease. It also highlights that genetically identical animals housed in the same facility can have rather distinct microbiotas and barrier structures.
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