Adherence factors of Lactobacillus in the human gastrointestinal tract

Despite the increasing number of scientific reports describing adhesion of Lactobacillus to components of the human intestinal mucosa, information on the surface molecules mediating this adhesion and their corresponding receptors is fragmentary. This MiniReview compiles present knowledge of the genetically and functionally characterized Lactobacillus factors responsible for mediating adhesion to different components of the human gastrointestinal tract. In addition, for the proteins among these factors, the domain structure is discussed, and where appropriate the results of in silico analyses are reported.