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Editorial
. 2025 Apr 30:14:e106854.
doi: 10.7554/eLife.106854.

With a little help from T cells

Troy Burtchett  1 , Neal Hammer  1
Affiliations
Editorial

With a little help from T cells

Troy Burtchett et al. Elife. .

Abstract

Specific host factors, such as immune cell activity, sex hormones and microbiota composition, influence the ability of Staphylococcus aureus bacteria to colonize the gut of mice.

Keywords: MRSA; Th17; gastrointestinal colonization; immunology; inflammation; microbiota; mouse; sex hormone.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

TB, NH No competing interests declared

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.. MRSA colonization in the gut of mice is microbiota- and sex-dependent.
The gut microbiota of female and male mice bred at New York University (NYU) or Jackson Laboratories (JAX) influences the ability of MRSA bacteria to colonize the gut. The gut microbiota of NYU female mice (left panel) differs from NYU male mice (middle panel) and both male and female JAX mice (right panel). This difference provided NYU females with unique protection against MRSA colonization (microbiota effect). The immune response of NYU females after they were infected with MRSA resulted in increased counts of T-helper 17 (Th17) cells (green) and activated neutrophils (pink), which promoted clearance of MRSA (immune response effect; bottom panel). Th17 cell proliferation and neutrophil activation were not observed in NYU male mice, resulting in persistent colonization with MRSA.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment on

  • doi: 10.7554/eLife.101606

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