PUBLICATION
The enteric nervous system promotes intestinal health by constraining microbiota composition
- Authors
- Rolig, A.S., Mittge, E.K., Ganz, J., Troll, J.V., Melancon, E., Wiles, T.J., Alligood, K., Stephens, W.Z., Eisen, J.S., Guillemin, K.
- ID
- ZDB-PUB-170217-2
- Date
- 2017
- Source
- PLoS Biology 15: e2000689 (Journal)
- Registered Authors
- Eisen, Judith S., Ganz, Julia, Guillemin, Karen, Mittge, Erika K.
- Keywords
- none
- MeSH Terms
-
- Intestines/microbiology*
- Intestines/pathology
- Gene Expression Regulation
- Mutation/genetics
- Bacteria/growth & development
- PubMed
- 28207737 Full text @ PLoS Biol.
Abstract
Sustaining a balanced intestinal microbial community is critical for maintaining intestinal health and preventing chronic inflammation. The gut is a highly dynamic environment, subject to periodic waves of peristaltic activity. We hypothesized that this dynamic environment is a prerequisite for a balanced microbial community and that the enteric nervous system (ENS), a chief regulator of physiological processes within the gut, profoundly influences gut microbiota composition. We found that zebrafish lacking an ENS due to a mutation in the Hirschsprung disease gene, sox10, develop microbiota-dependent inflammation that is transmissible between hosts. Profiling microbial communities across a spectrum of inflammatory phenotypes revealed that increased levels of inflammation were linked to an overabundance of pro-inflammatory bacterial lineages and a lack of anti-inflammatory bacterial lineages. Moreover, either administering a representative anti-inflammatory strain or restoring ENS function corrected the pathology. Thus, we demonstrate that the ENS modulates gut microbiota community membership to maintain intestinal health.
Genes / Markers
Figure Gallery (3 images)
Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping