Microbiota-stimulated immune mechanisms to maintain gut homeostasis

In recent years there has been an explosion of interest to identify microbial inhabitants of human and understand their beneficial role in health. In the gut, a symbiotic host–microbial interaction has coevolved as bacteria make essential contributions to human metabolism and bacteria in turn benefits from the nutrient-rich niche in the intestine. To maintain host–microbe coexistence, the host must protect itself against microbial invasion, injury, and overreactions to foreign food antigens, and gut microbes need protection against competing microbes and the host immune system. Perturbation of this homeostatic coexistence has been strongly associated with human disease. This review discusses how gut bacteria regulate host innate and adaptive immunity, with emphasis on how this regulation contributes to host–microbe homeostasis in the gut.