The environmentally exposed surfaces of mammals, such as the skin, mouth, gut, and vagina, are colonized by a diverse ecosystem of microbes. Though many of these bacteria - particularly those of the distal gut - are considered symbiotic, the microbiome has the capacity to induce both pro- and anti- inflammatory responses. Accumulating evidence suggests that a properly balanced gut microbiome is crucial for a correctly functioning immune system, and that imbalances in the microbial community of the intestine are linked to a multitude of auto-inflammatory and auto-immune diseases. This symposium will discuss the roles of the microbiome in murine models of various inflammatory disease states, and the advantages to utilizing germ-free/gnotobiotic mice when probing disease models with a microbiome component.
Key Learning Points:
- Introduce the roles of the microbiome in murine models of human disease
- Describe the terminology used when discussing gnotobiotic studies
- Discuss the advantages to utilizing germ-free/gnotobiotic mice when probing disease models with microbiome components
