Rapid transcriptional and metabolic adaptation of intestinal microbes to host immune activation, 2021,Becattini et al

In mice.

Highlights

• Acute immune activation alters intestinal microbiota gene transcription within hours
• Microbial transcriptional signatures include stress- and metabolism-associated genes
• Microbiota composition and the type of immune stimulus impact bacterial responses
• The intestinal metabolome is rapidly reshaped by immune activation of the host

Summary

The gut microbiota produces metabolites that regulate host immunity, thereby impacting disease resistance and susceptibility. The extent to which commensal bacteria reciprocally respond to immune activation, however, remains largely unexplored. Herein, we colonized mice with four anaerobic symbionts and show that acute immune responses result in dramatic transcriptional reprogramming of these commensals with minimal changes in their relative abundance. Transcriptomic changes include induction of stress-response mediators and downregulation of carbohydrate-degrading factors such as polysaccharide utilization loci (PULs). Flagellin and anti-CD3 antibody, two distinct immune stimuli, induced similar transcriptional profiles, suggesting that commensal bacteria detect common effectors or activate shared pathways when facing different host responses. Immune activation altered the intestinal metabolome within 6 hours, decreasing luminal short-chain fatty acid and increasing aromatic metabolite concentrations. Thus, intestinal bacteria, prior to detectable shifts in community composition, respond to acute host immune activation by rapidly changing gene transcription and immunomodulatory metabolite production.

Paywall, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1931312821000330

 

I wonder whether this might provide some useful markers for ME.