IgA-about the unexpected.

In this issue of , Nakajima et al. (https://doi.org/10.1084/jem.20180427) demonstrate that glycan-dependent, epitope-independent IgA coating of intestinal bacteria alters bacterial gene expression and metabolism. This conferred coated bacteria with fitness within the mucus niche and contributed to intestinal homeostasis through cross-phylum interactions

Metabolization and sequestration of plant specialized metabolites in insect herbivores: Current and emerging approaches.

Herbivorous insects encounter diverse plant specialized metabolites (PSMs) in their diet, that have deterrent, anti-nutritional, or toxic properties. Understanding how they cope with PSMs is crucial to understand their biology, population dynamics, and evolution. This review summarizes current and emerging cutting-edge methods that can be used to characterize the metabolic fate of PSMs, from ingestion to excretion or sequestration. It further emphasizes a workflow that enables not only to study PSM metabolism at different scales, but also to tackle and validate the genetic and biochemical mechanisms involved in PSM resistance by herbivores. This review thus aims at facilitating research on PSM-mediated plant-herbivore interactions

Metabolization and sequestration of plant specialized metabolites in insect herbivores: Current and emerging approaches

Herbivorous insects encounter diverse plant specialized metabolites (PSMs) in their diet, that have deterrent, anti-nutritional, or toxic properties. Understanding how they cope with PSMs is crucial to understand their biology, population dynamics, and evolution. This review summarizes current and emerging cutting-edge methods that can be used to characterize the metabolic fate of PSMs, from ingestion to excretion or sequestration. It further emphasizes a workflow that enables not only to study PSM metabolism at different scales, but also to tackle and validate the genetic and biochemical mechanisms involved in PSM resistance by herbivores. This review thus aims at facilitating research on PSM-mediated plant-herbivore interactions

The Bern Birth Cohort (BeBiCo) to study the development of the infant intestinal microbiota in a high-resource setting in Switzerland: rationale, design, and methods.

BACKGROUND Microbiota composition is fundamental to human health with the intestinal microbiota undergoing critical changes within the first two years of life. The developing intestinal microbiota is shaped by maternal seeding, breast milk and its complex constituents, other nutrients, and the environment. Understanding microbiota-dependent pathologies requires a profound understanding of the early development of the healthy infant microbiota. METHODS Two hundred and fifty healthy pregnant women (≥20 weeks of gestation) from the greater Bern area will be enrolled at Bern University hospital's maternity department. Participants will be followed as mother-baby pairs at delivery, week(s) 1, 2, 6, 10, 14, 24, 36, 48, 96, and at years 5 and 10 after birth. Clinical parameters describing infant growth and development, morbidity, and allergic conditions as well as socio-economic, nutritional, and epidemiological data will be documented. Neuro-developmental outcomes and behavior will be assessed by child behavior checklists at and beyond 2 years of age. Maternal stool, milk, skin and vaginal swabs, infant stool, and skin swabs will be collected at enrolment and at follow-up visits. For the primary outcome, the trajectory of the infant intestinal microbiota will be characterized by 16S and metagenomic sequencing regarding composition, metabolic potential, and stability during the first 2 years of life. Secondary outcomes will assess the cellular and chemical composition of maternal milk, the impact of nutrition and environment on microbiota development, the maternal microbiome transfer at vaginal or caesarean birth and thereafter on the infant, and correlate parameters of microbiota and maternal milk on infant growth, development, health, and mental well-being. DISCUSSION The Bern birth cohort study will provide a detailed description and normal ranges of the trajectory of microbiota maturation in a high-resource setting. These data will be compared to data from low-resource settings such as from the Zimbabwe-College of Health-Sciences-Birth-Cohort study. Prospective bio-sampling and data collection will allow studying the association of the microbiota with common childhood conditions concerning allergies, obesity, neuro-developmental outcomes , and behaviour. Trial registration The trial has been registered at www. CLINICALTRIALS gov , Identifier: NCT04447742

Epithelial endoplasmic reticulum stress orchestrates a protective IgA response.

Immunoglobulin A (IgA) is the major secretory immunoglobulin isotype found at mucosal surfaces, where it regulates microbial commensalism and excludes luminal factors from contacting intestinal epithelial cells (IECs). IgA is induced by both T cell-dependent and -independent (TI) pathways. However, little is known about TI regulation. We report that IEC endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress induces a polyreactive IgA response, which is protective against enteric inflammation. IEC ER stress causes TI and microbiota-independent expansion and activation of peritoneal B1b cells, which culminates in increased lamina propria and luminal IgA. Increased numbers of IgA-producing plasma cells were observed in healthy humans with defective autophagy, who are known to exhibit IEC ER stress. Upon ER stress, IECs communicate signals to the peritoneum that induce a barrier-protective TI IgA response.Wellcome Trust Senior Investigator Award 106260/Z/14/Z HORIZON2020/European Research Council Consolidator Grant 64888

An ambulance for retinol.

During inflammation, serum amyloid A proteins transport retinol to infected tissues