Laboratory of Translational Immunology, VIB Center for Brain and Disease Research, Leuven, Belgium.
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Front Immunol. 2018 Mar 16;9:538. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2018.00538. eCollection 2018.
biofilms are a major cause of nosocomial morbidity and mortality. The mechanism by which biofilms evade the immune system remains unknown. In this perspective, we develop a theoretical framework of the three, not mutually exclusive, models, which could explain biofilm evasion of host immunity. First, biofilms may exhibit properties of immunological silence, preventing immune activation. Second, biofilms may produce immune-deviating factors, converting effective immunity into ineffective immunity. Third, biofilms may resist host immunity, which would otherwise be effective. Using a murine subcutaneous biofilm model, we found that mice infected with biofilms developed sterilizing immunity effective when challenged with yeast form . Despite the induction of effective anti- immunity, no spontaneous clearance of the biofilm was observed. These results support the immune resistance model of biofilm immune evasion and demonstrate an asymmetric relationship between the host and biofilms, with biofilms eliciting effective immune responses yet being resistant to immunological clearance.
生物膜是医院获得性发病和死亡的主要原因。生物膜逃避免疫系统的机制尚不清楚。在这方面，我们提出了一个理论框架，其中包括三个并非相互排斥的模型，这些模型可以解释生物膜逃避宿主免疫的机制。首先，生物膜可能具有免疫沉默的特性，从而阻止免疫激活。其次，生物膜可能产生免疫偏离因子，将有效的免疫转化为无效的免疫。第三，生物膜可能抵抗宿主免疫，否则宿主免疫将是有效的。使用鼠皮下生物膜模型，我们发现感染生物膜的小鼠在受到酵母形式挑战时产生了有效的杀菌免疫。尽管诱导了有效的抗感染免疫，但未观察到生物膜的自发清除。这些结果支持生物膜免疫逃避的免疫抵抗模型，并证明了宿主与生物膜之间的不对称关系，生物膜引发有效的免疫反应，但对免疫清除具有抵抗力。
