# Commensal fungal communities in the regulation of immunity and intestinal inflammation

> **NIH NIH R01** · WEILL MEDICAL COLL OF CORNELL UNIV · 2024 · $562,303

## Abstract

Abstract
Decades of research have revealed that intestinal bacteria are critical for regulating homeostatic and protective
immune responses. However, recent studies suggest that additional players such as fungi and viruses have high
potential to influence these processes. While important trans-kingdom relationships between gut fungi
(mycobiota) and bacteria have been recently unveiled, how fungi influence intestinal homeostasis, states of
inflammation and responses to therapeutic interventions for Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) is still less clear.
In prior works, we defined profound effects of gut mycobiota on local and gut distal immunity through interaction
with CX3CR1+ mononuclear phagocyte or by shaping host antibody repertoires that influence fungal
commensalism. We defined that these processes are affected in IBD. In a multicenter placebo-controlled clinical
trial of fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) in Ulcerative colitis (UC) we recently determined that fungal
clearance and blunted immune activation against Candida albicans correlates with a response to therapy. These
findings suggest a possible role of gut mycobiota in efficacy of and response to therapeutic interventions. In
preliminary studies we demonstrate the presence of rich genetic and phenotypic diversity of opportunistic
Candida strains that dominated the colonic mucosa of IBD patients. We found that these isolates differ by their
ability to cause host cell damage and are functionally diverse across individuals. In this competitive renewal we
propose studies aiming to decipher the processes on inflammation caused by patient-associated strains. We
hypothesize that these organisms influence inflammation and response to therapy through the production of
factors that are regulated at strain-specific level. The results of this study will map the human gut mycobiota
functionally and might provide a basis for targeted novel therapies and co-therapies for inflammatory diseases.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10833177
- **Project number:** 5R01DK113136-07
- **Recipient organization:** WEILL MEDICAL COLL OF CORNELL UNIV
- **Principal Investigator:** ILIYAN Dimitrov ILIEV
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $562,303
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-07-01 → 2027-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10833177

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10833177, Commensal fungal communities in the regulation of immunity and intestinal inflammation (5R01DK113136-07). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-27 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10833177. Licensed CC0.

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