Global chemical effects of the microbiome include new bile-acid conjugations

TitleGlobal chemical effects of the microbiome include new bile-acid conjugations
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2020
AuthorsQuinn RA, Melnik AV, Vrbanac A, Fu T, Patras KA, Christy MP, Bodai Z, Belda-Ferre P, Tripathi A, Chung LK, Downes M, Welch RD, Quinn M, Humphrey G, Panitchpakdi M, Weldon KC, Aksenov A, da Silva R, Avila-Pacheco J, Clish C, Bae S, Mallick H, Franzosa EA, Lloyd-Price J, Bussell R, Thron T, Nelson AT, Wang M, Leszczynski E, Vargas F, Gauglitz JM, Meehan MJ, Gentry E, Arthur TD, Komor AC, Poulsen O, Boland BS, Chang JT, Sandborn WJ, Lim M, Garg N, Lumeng JC, Xavier RJ, Kazmierczak BI, Jain R, Egan M, Rhee KE, Ferguson D, Raffatellu M, Vlamakis H, Haddad GG, Siegel D, Huttenhower C, Mazmanian SK, Evans RM, Nizet V, Knight R, Dorrestein PC
JournalNature
Volume579
Issue7797
Pagination123-129
Date Published2020 Mar
ISSN1476-4687
KeywordsAnimals, Bile Acids and Salts, Cholic Acid, Cystic Fibrosis, Germ-Free Life, Humans, Inflammatory Bowel Diseases, Metabolomics, Mice, Microbiota, Receptors, Cytoplasmic and Nuclear
Abstract

A mosaic of cross-phylum chemical interactions occurs between all metazoans and their microbiomes. A number of molecular families that are known to be produced by the microbiome have a marked effect on the balance between health and disease1-9. Considering the diversity of the human microbiome (which numbers over 40,000 operational taxonomic units10), the effect of the microbiome on the chemistry of an entire animal remains underexplored. Here we use mass spectrometry informatics and data visualization approaches11-13 to provide an assessment of the effects of the microbiome on the chemistry of an entire mammal by comparing metabolomics data from germ-free and specific-pathogen-free mice. We found that the microbiota affects the chemistry of all organs. This included the amino acid conjugations of host bile acids that were used to produce phenylalanocholic acid, tyrosocholic acid and leucocholic acid, which have not previously been characterized despite extensive research on bile-acid chemistry14. These bile-acid conjugates were also found in humans, and were enriched in patients with inflammatory bowel disease or cystic fibrosis. These compounds agonized the farnesoid X receptor in vitro, and mice gavaged with the compounds showed reduced expression of bile-acid synthesis genes in vivo. Further studies are required to confirm whether these compounds have a physiological role in the host, and whether they contribute to gut diseases that are associated with microbiome dysbiosis.

DOI10.1038/s41586-020-2047-9
Alternate JournalNature
PubMed ID32103176
PubMed Central IDPMC7252668
Grant ListP01 HL088093 / HL / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States
GMS10RR029121 / NH / NIH HHS / United States
R24DK110499 / NH / NIH HHS / United States
UL1 TR001863 / TR / NCATS NIH HHS / United States
1 DP1 AT010885 / NH / NIH HHS / United States
1R01HL116235 / NH / NIH HHS / United States
KL2 TR001444 / TR / NCATS NIH HHS / United States
R37 DK057978 / DK / NIDDK NIH HHS / United States
T32 DK007494 / DK / NIDDK NIH HHS / United States
R03 CA211211 / CA / NCI NIH HHS / United States
R24 DK110499 / DK / NIDDK NIH HHS / United States
P30 CA014195 / CA / NCI NIH HHS / United States
P30 DK040561 / DK / NIDDK NIH HHS / United States
R01 HL105278 / HL / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States
R01 HD084163 / HD / NICHD NIH HHS / United States
R01 GM107550 / GM / NIGMS NIH HHS / United States
S10 RR029121 / RR / NCRR NIH HHS / United States
CA014195 / CA / NCI NIH HHS / United States
/ HHMI / Howard Hughes Medical Institute / United States
U01 AI124316 / AI / NIAID NIH HHS / United States
P42 ES010337 / ES / NIEHS NIH HHS / United States
R01 AI126277 / AI / NIAID NIH HHS / United States
DP1 AT010885 / AT / NCCIH NIH HHS / United States
1R03CA211211-01 / NH / NIH HHS / United States
P30 DK120515 / DK / NIDDK NIH HHS / United States
U54 DE023798 / DE / NIDCR NIH HHS / United States
R01 HL116235 / HL / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States
T15 LM011271 / LM / NLM NIH HHS / United States
U54DE023798 / NH / NIH HHS / United States
5U01AI124316-03 / NH / NIH HHS / United States