View article

Over the past decade it has become clear that lactobacilli and other probiotic and commensal organisms can interact with mucosal immune cells or epithelial cells lining the mucosa to modulate specific functions of the mucosal immune system. The most well understood signalling mechanisms involve the innate pattern recognition receptors such as Toll-like receptors, nucleotide oligomerization domain-like receptors and C-type lectin receptors. Binding of microbe-associated molecular patterns with these receptors can activate antigen presenting cells and modulate their function through the expression of surface receptors, secreted cytokines and chemokines. In vitro the cytokine response of human peripheral blood mononuclear cells and dendritic cells to lactobacilli can be strikingly different depending on both the bacterial species and the strain. Several factors have been identified in lactobacilli that …