Publications by authors named "Catherine Mooser"

Article Synopsis
  • Research has traditionally focused on skin bacteria as the main cause of surgical infections, but recent findings show that intestinal bacteria are actually the primary culprits in postoperative infections.
  • In experiments with mice, it was found that CCR6 group 3 innate lymphoid cells (ILC3s) play a crucial role in controlling bacterial spread after surgery by producing interleukin-22 (IL-22).
  • The study highlights that ILC3s are essential for liver regeneration and suggests they could be new targets for preventing infections linked to intestinal bacteria in postoperative patients.
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The obesity epidemic continues to worsen worldwide. However, the mechanisms initiating glucose dysregulation in obesity remain poorly understood. We assessed the role that colonic macrophage subpopulations play in glucose homeostasis in mice fed a high-fat diet (HFD).

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Article Synopsis
  • Isobiotic mice provide a standardized model to study the effects of microbiota on host-microbial relationships over extended periods and across different labs.
  • After a 6-year study, researchers found signs of positive selection in microbial taxa, particularly in genes related to nutrient acquisition and replication.
  • Dietary changes in the mice prompted quick genetic and compositional adjustments in microbial populations, indicating both long-term adaptation through evolution and immediate responses to shifts in diet.
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Expression of Toll-interacting protein (Tollip), a potent TLR modulator, decreases in patients with inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), whereas Tollip mice are susceptible to colitis. Tollip expression was shown to be reduced in sporadic adenoma. In contrast, we found variable Tollip expression in patients with colitis-associated adenomas.

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Myocarditis can develop into inflammatory cardiomyopathy through chronic stimulation of myosin heavy chain 6-specific T helper (T)1 and T17 cells. However, mechanisms governing the cardiotoxicity programming of heart-specific T cells have remained elusive. Using a mouse model of spontaneous autoimmune myocarditis, we show that progression of myocarditis to lethal heart disease depends on cardiac myosin-specific T17 cells imprinted in the intestine by a commensal species peptide mimic.

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Considering the increasing list of diseases linked to the commensal microbiota, experimental studies of host-microbe interactions are of growing interest. Axenic and differently colonized animal models are inalienable tools to study these interactions. Factors, such as host genetics, diet, antibiotics and litter affect microbiota composition and can be confounding factors in many experimental settings.

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Biological redundancy ensures robustness in living organisms at several levels, from genes to organs. In this review, we explore the concept of redundancy and robustness through an analysis of the caecal appendix, an organ that is often considered to be a redundant remnant of evolution. However, phylogenic data show that the Appendix was selected during evolution and is unlikely to disappear once it appeared.

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The gut microbiota contributes to the development of normal immunity but, when dysregulated, can promote autoimmunity through various non-antigen-specific effects on pathogenic and regulatory lymphocytes. Here, we show that an integrase expressed by several species of the gut microbial genus Bacteroides encodes a low-avidity mimotope of the pancreatic β cell autoantigen islet-specific glucose-6-phosphatase-catalytic-subunit-related protein (IGRP). Studies in germ-free mice monocolonized with integrase-competent, integrase-deficient, and integrase-transgenic Bacteroides demonstrate that the microbial epitope promotes the recruitment of diabetogenic CD8+ T cells to the gut.

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Unlabelled: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) represents the fifth-most common form of cancer worldwide and carries a high mortality rate attributed to lack of effective treatment. Males are 8 times more likely to develop HCC than females, an effect largely driven by sex hormones, albeit through still poorly understood mechanisms. We previously identified TRIM28 (tripartite protein 28), a scaffold protein capable of recruiting a number of chromatin modifiers, as a crucial mediator of sexual dimorphism in the liver.

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Article Synopsis
  • The P2X7 receptor is crucial for regulating the abundance of T follicular helper (Tfh) cells in the Peyer's patches of the small intestine, and deleting the P2rx7 gene enhances IgA secretion related to gut bacteria.
  • Tfh cell activity is essential for maintaining a diverse gut microbiome, and they help create a balanced gut ecosystem through sensing extracellular ATP from the microbiota via the P2X7 receptor.
  • The study suggests that Tfh cells not only protect the intestinal mucosa but also play a significant role in fostering a beneficial microbiome for the host, highlighting extracellular ATP as an important signaling molecule for microbial selection.
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Background: Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection is associated with significant morbidity and mortality in transplant recipients. Resistance against ganciclovir is increasingly observed. According to current guidelines, direct drug resistance testing is not always performed due to high costs and work effort, even when resistance is suspected.

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