The gut microbiota elicits a profound metabolic reorientation in the mouse jejunal mucosa during conventionalisation.
OBJECTIVE
Proper interactions between the intestinal mucosa, gut microbiota and nutrient flow are required to establish homoeostasis of the host. Since the proximal part of the small intestine is the first region where these interactions occur, and since most of the nutrient absorption occurs in the jejunum, it is important to understand the dynamics of metabolic responses of the mucosa in this intestinal region.


METHODS
Germ-free mice aged 8-10 weeks were conventionalised with faecal microbiota, and responses of the jejunal mucosa to bacterial colonisation were followed over a 30-day time course. Combined transcriptome, histology, (1)H NMR metabonomics and microbiota phylogenetic profiling analyses were used.


RESULTS
The jejunal mucosa showed a two-phase response to the colonising microbiota. The acute-phase response, which had already started 1 day after conventionalisation, involved repression of the cell cycle and parts of the basal metabolism. The secondary-phase response, which was consolidated during conventionalisation (days 4-30), was characterised by a metabolic shift from an oxidative energy supply to anabolic metabolism, as inferred from the tissue transcriptome and metabonome changes. Detailed transcriptome analysis identified tissue transcriptional signatures for the dynamic control of the metabolic reorientation in the jejunum. The molecular components identified in the response signatures have known roles in human metabolic disorders, including insulin sensitivity and type 2 diabetes mellitus.


CONCLUSIONS
This study elucidates the dynamic jejunal response to the microbiota and supports a prominent role for the jejunum in metabolic control, including glucose and energy homoeostasis. The molecular signatures of this process may help to find risk markers in the declining insulin sensitivity seen in human type 2 diabetes mellitus, for instance.
Top Institute Food and Nutrition, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
Sahar
S
El Aidy
Claire A
CA
Merrifield
Muriel
M
Derrien
Peter
P
van Baarlen
Guido
G
Hooiveld
Florence
F
Levenez
Joel
J
Doré
Jan
J
Dekker
Elaine
E
Holmes
Sandrine P
SP
Claus
Dirk-Jan
DJ
Reijngoud
Michiel
M
Kleerebezem
D000818:Animals; D001419:Bacteria / Q000378:metabolism*; D004734:Energy Metabolism; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology; D006706:Homeostasis; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions; D006801:Humans; D007408:Intestinal Absorption / Q000502:physiology; D007413:Intestinal Mucosa / Q000378:metabolism / Q000382:microbiology; D007583:Jejunum / Q000378:metabolism / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D055432:Metabolomics; D051379:Mice; D064307:Microbiota / Q000502:physiology*; D023421:Models, Animal; D010802:Phylogeny; D013997:Time Factors; D059467:Transcriptome