Host-Microbiome Interactions at Mucosal Frontiers
You are not alone.
You are colonized by communities of microbes anywhere you are in contact with the environment: mouth, skin, stomach, intestinal epithelium, vagina. These diverse communities, the microbiota, are responsible for key roles in maintaining host health.
The interface between hosts and their microbiota is a divide where two worlds collide. on one side of a divide the host epithelium and immune system sit poised, working in harmony and well resourced, but tasked with protecting an enormous boundary: the human gut if stretched would cover a tennis court. On the other side of the divide, a rich community of microbes, the microbiota, is engaged in a fierce internal contest for limited resources.
How do hosts and their microbial residents navigate the delicate balance between cooperation and conflict? We’re fascinated by the dynamic interfaces where this relationship plays out, particularly the mucus barriers that separate us from trillions of microbes.
What happens when we observe that antibiotics damage protective mucus layers even without changing the microbiome itself? This raises intriguing questions about hidden costs of antimicrobial interventions. How should hosts optimally respond to shifting microbial landscapes at these interfaces? Through mathematical modeling, we’re exploring whether there are universal principles governing when to defend, when to tolerate, and when to actively collaborate.
Why do some dietary compounds remain inactive until gut bacteria transform them? We’ve been tracing metabolic partnerships where microbes unlock nutrients from our food, like glucosinolates from cruciferous vegetables, that our own enzymes cannot access. What does this reveal about the evolution of nutritional interdependence?
These questions span from molecular mechanisms to ecological strategies, asking how cooperation and competition shape the most intimate biological partnerships we know. Can understanding these dynamics help us predict when host-microbe relationships flourish, or when they break down?