Michael R. Howitt

TL;DR: This study determined that short-chain fatty acids, gut microbiota–derived bacterial fermentation products, regulate the size and function of the colonic Treg pool and protect against colitis in a Ffar2-dependent manner in mice, revealing that a class of abundant microbial metabolites underlies adaptive immune microbiota coadaptation and promotes colonic homeostasis and health.

TL;DR: This paper reported profiling of 53,193 individual epithelial cells from the small intestine and organoids of mice, which enabled the identification and characterization of previously unknown subtypes of intestinal epithelial cell and their gene signatures.

TL;DR: It is shown that tuft cells, which are taste-chemosensory epithelial cells, accumulate during parasite colonization and infection and are identified as critical sentinels in the gut epithelium that promote type 2 immunity in response to intestinal parasites.

TL;DR: The authors reported profiling of 53,193 individual epithelial cells from the small intestine and organoids of mice, which enabled the identification and characterization of previously unknown subtypes of intestinal epithelial cell and their gene signatures.

TL;DR: How model systems are influencing current understanding of host-microbiota interactions is considered and current human microbiome studies are explored.