Milking the niche: Microbial control of neonatal hematopoiesis.

In this issue of Cell, Howard et al. reveal how the milk glycoprotein osteopontin shapes the neonatal microbiome to regulate hematopoiesis, promoting dendritic cell development and protection from severe respiratory infection. These findings uncover a maternal milk-microbiota pathway linking early-life nutrition to immune development and long-term disease susceptibility.