Interactions of commensal and pathogenic microorganisms with the mucus layer in the colon.
The intestinal mucosal barrier, which is composed of epithelial cells and mucus layers secreted by goblet cells and contains commensal bacteria, constitutes the first line of defense against pathogenic gut microbiota. However, homeostasis between the microbiota and mucus layer is easily disrupted by certain factors, resulting in alteration of the gut microbiota and entry of pathogens to the intestinal mucosal barrier. In this review, we describe the structures and functions of the mucus layer, expound several crucial influencing factors, including diet styles, medications and host genetics, and discuss how pathogenic microorganisms interact with the mucus layer and commensal microbiota, with the understanding that unraveling their complex interactions under homeostatic and dysbiosis conditions in the colon would help reveal some underlying pathogenic mechanisms and thus develop new strategies to prevent pathogenic microbiological colonization.
['Cai|Rui|R|', 'Cheng|Chen|C|', 'Chen|Jianwei|J|0000-0003-2332-4609', 'Xu|Xiaoqiang|X|', 'Ding|Chao|C|', 'Gu|Bing|B|']
D000818:Animals D001419:Bacteria D018407:Bacterial Physiological Phenomena D003106:Colon D064806:Dysbiosis D000069196:Gastrointestinal Microbiome D006706:Homeostasis D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions D006801:Humans D007413:Intestinal Mucosa D013559:Symbiosis
commensalism pathogen Mucus layer colonization resistance mucin