Microbiota regulates the TLR7 signaling pathway against respiratory tract influenza A virus infection.

Sha Wu, Zhen-You Jiang, Yi-Fan Sun, Bin Yu, Jia Chen, Cong-Qi Dai, Xian-Lin Wu, Xiao-Long Tang, Xiao-Yin Chen

Current microbiology 2013 Oct

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Although intestinal flora are crucial in maintaining immune homeostasis of the intestine, the role of intestinal flora in immune responses at other mucosal surfaces remains less clear. Here, we show that intestinal flora composition critically regulates the toll-like receptor 7 (TLR7) signaling pathway following respiratory influenza virus infection. TLR7 ligands rescued the immune impairment in antibiotic-treated mice. Intact microbiota provided signals leading to the expression of mRNA for TLR7, MyD88, IRAK4, TRAF6, and NF-κB at steady state. Significant changes in the composition of culturable commensal bacteria reduced the expression levels of components of the TLR7 signaling pathway. Our results reveal the importance of intestinal flora in regulating immunity in the respiratory mucosa through the upregulation of the TLR7 signaling pathway for the proper activation of inflammasomes.

Citation

Sha Wu, Zhen-You Jiang, Yi-Fan Sun, Bin Yu, Jia Chen, Cong-Qi Dai, Xian-Lin Wu, Xiao-Long Tang, Xiao-Yin Chen. Microbiota regulates the TLR7 signaling pathway against respiratory tract influenza A virus infection. Current microbiology. 2013 Oct;67(4):414-22