| 研究実績の概要 |
Our aim for FY 2015 was to perform experiments that would contribute to our understanding of the roles played by IgA in regulating the gut bacterial communities. We wanted to elucidate how IgA diversity or quality of IgAs affect the localization of bacteria in gut. Our hypothesis was that IgA coating of bacteria is required for trapping of bacteria into the mucus layer and by doing so contributing to the retention of bacteria inside the intestine. More clearly, we think that IgA coating of bacteria maintain rather than expel bacteria from the gut. We just started to dissect the bacterial communities trapped into the mucus layer. So far we found that different gut segments contain different bacterial communities. We are still in the process of dissecting the characteristics of bacteria present inside the gut or that which is eliminated in the feces. We made some progress but not enough to conclude anything solid yet as we did not look yet at mice incapable to produce IgAs. The progress was a bit slowed down lately by the departure of the postdoctoral fellow who conducted most of the experiments. We are now training a new postdoc to conduct such experiments. Finally I wish to say that the support we received helped us greatly in conducting experiments contributing to fundamental understanding of immune-bacteria symbiosis in the gut.
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