Macrophage activation by exopolysaccharides from Streptococcus thermophilus fermented milk through TLRs-mediated NF-κB and MAPK pathways

•RNA-seq analysis revealed immune function of macrophages was activated by EPS-3A.•PPI network and KEGG pathways indicated MAPK and NF-κB were the key regulators modulating the expressions of the core gene TNF-α.•EPS-3A might perform immunoregulation in macrophages via TLR2 and TLR4.•These results help for elucidating the health promoting function and mechanism of EPS from Streptococcus thermophilus.