On October 6, 2026, the journal Microbiome published an article titled “Antibody-mediated immune surveillance as an organizing axis of gut microbiota structure”, to which the VIROMUNE project contributed.
Beyond its taxonomic composition and metabolic functions, understanding the gut microbiota also requires studying its interactions with the immune system. Immunoglobulin A (IgA) plays a key role in this surveillance by selectively targeting certain microorganisms.
In this study, the authors developed a quantitative approach to characterize IgA-mediated immune targeting at two complementary levels: that of individual species and that of the microbial community as a whole. By integrating IgA binding, abundance, and prevalence of microorganisms, this method quantifies the degree of targeting for each taxon and characterizes immune surveillance profiles at the community level.
In multiple sclerosis, IgA-mediated targeting profiles appear to be disrupted, particularly among short-chain fatty acid-producing bacteria and the major archaeal lineage. The study also explores these disruptions in the early stages of the disease and their progression in relation to fecal microbiota transplantation and disease activity.
This research thus provides a quantitative framework for characterizing IgA-mediated immune surveillance at the level of the gut microbiota, offering a complementary perspective to taxonomic and functional approaches for studying interactions between the host and its microbiota.
- Simeon Nthuku, Sorbonne University, CNRS, Inserm
- Delphine Sterlin, Sorbonne University, CNRS, Inserm – AP-HP
- Nicolas Pons, University Paris-Saclay, INRAE
- Christophe Parizot, AP-HP
- Martin Larsen, Sorbonne University, CNRS, Inserm
- Agnes Rastetter, AP-HP – ICM
- Yannick Marie, AP-HP – ICM
- Savine Vicart, AP-HP
- Elisabeth Maillart, AP-HP
- Caroline Papeix, Hôpital Fondation Adolphe de Rothschild, Inserm, Université Paris Cité
- Guy Gorochov, Sorbonne University, CNRS, Inserm – AP-HP – FHU GLIMMER
- Lejla Imamovic, Sorbonne University, CNRS, Inserm – FHU GLIMMER – University Paris Cité, CNRS, Inserm, Institut Cochin