<i>Akkermansia muciniphila</i> induces intestinal adaptive immune responses during homeostasis.

Abstract

Intestinal adaptive immune responses influence host health, yet only a few intestinal bacteria species that induce cognate adaptive immune responses during homeostasis have been identified. Here, we show that <i>Akkermansia muciniphila</i>, an intestinal bacterium associated with systemic effects on host metabolism and PD-1 checkpoint immunotherapy, induces immunoglobulin G1 (IgG1) antibodies and antigen-specific T cell responses in mice. Unlike previously characterized mucosal responses, T cell responses to <i>A. muciniphila</i> are limited to T follicular helper cells in a gnotobiotic setting, without appreciable induction of other T helper fates or migration to the lamina propria. However, <i>A. muciniphila</i>-specific responses are context dependent and adopt other fates in conventional mice. These findings suggest that, during homeostasis, contextual signals influence T cell responses to the microbiota and modulate host immune function.