Systems biology of host-microbe metabolomics.
The human gut microbiota performs essential functions for host and well-being, but has also been linked to a variety of disease states, e.g., obesity and type 2 diabetes. The mammalian body fluid and tissue metabolomes are greatly influenced by the microbiota, with many health-relevant metabolites being considered 'mammalian-microbial co-metabolites'. To systematically investigate this complex host-microbial co-metabolism, a systems biology approach integrating high-throughput data and computational network models is required. Here, we review established top-down and bottom-up systems biology approaches that have successfully elucidated relationships between gut microbiota-derived metabolites and host health and disease. We focus particularly on the constraint-based modeling and analysis approach, which enables the prediction of mechanisms behind metabolic host-microbe interactions on the molecular level. We illustrate that constraint-based models are a useful tool for the contextualization of metabolomic measurements and can further our insight into host-microbe interactions, yielding, e.g., in potential novel drugs and biomarkers.
Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine, University of Luxembourg, Belval, Luxembourg.
Almut
A
Heinken
Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine, University of Luxembourg, Belval, Luxembourg.
Ines
I
Thiele
D000818:Animals; D001826:Body Fluids / Q000378:metabolism; D041981:Gastrointestinal Tract / Q000378:metabolism / Q000382:microbiology; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions; D006801:Humans; D055442:Metabolome; D055432:Metabolomics; D064307:Microbiota; D008954:Models, Biological