title: Monitoring Perinatal Gut Microbiota in Mouse Models by Mass Spectrometry Approaches: Parental Genetic Background and Breastfeeding Effects.
abstract: At birth, contact with external stimuli, such as nutrients derived from food, is necessary to modulate the symbiotic balance between commensal and pathogenic bacteria, protect against bacterial dysbiosis, and initiate the development of the mucosal immune response. Among a variety of different feeding patterns, breastfeeding represents the best modality. In fact, the capacity of breast milk to modulate the composition of infants' gut microbiota leads to beneficial effects on their health. In this study, we used newborn mice as a model to evaluate the effect of parental genetic background (i.e., IgA-producing mice and IgA-deficient mice) and feeding modulation (i.e., maternal feeding and cross-feeding) on the onset and shaping of gut microbiota after birth. To investigate these topics, we used either a culturomic approach that employed Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry (MS), or bottom-up Liquid Chromatography, with subsequent MSMS shotgun metaproteomic analysis that compared and assembled results of the two techniques. We found that the microbial community was enriched by lactic acid bacteria when pups were breastfed by wild-type (WT) mothers, while IgA-deficient milk led to an increase in the opportunistic bacterial pathogen (OBP) population. Cross-feeding results suggested that IgA supplementation promoted the exclusion of some OBPs and the temporary appearance of beneficial species in pups fed by WT foster mothers. Our results show that both techniques yield a picture of microbiota from different angles and with varying depths. In particular, our metaproteomic pipeline was found to be a reliable tool in the description of microbiota. Data from these studies are available via ProteomeXchange, with identifier PXD004033.
authors.affiliation: Human Microbiome Unit, Area of Genetic and Rare Diseases, Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital, IRCCS Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Levi Mortera
authors.affiliation: Human Microbiome Unit, Area of Genetic and Rare Diseases, Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital, IRCCS Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Federica
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Del Chierico
authors.affiliation: Human Microbiome Unit, Area of Genetic and Rare Diseases, Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital, IRCCS Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Pamela
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Vernocchi
authors.affiliation: Immunology Research Area, B-cell Physiopathology Unit and Diagnostic Immunology Unit, Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital, IRCCS Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Maria M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Rosado
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental Medicine, University of Rome Tor Vergata Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Agnese
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cavola
authors.affiliation: Fondazione Bruno Kessler Trento, Italy.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chierici
authors.affiliation: IRCCS-Santa Lucia Foundation Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Luisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Pieroni
authors.affiliation: IRCCS-Santa Lucia FoundationRome, Italy; Istituto di Biochimica e Biochimica Clinica, Università Cattolica del Sacro CuoreRome, Italy.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Urbani
authors.affiliation: Immunology Research Area, B-cell Physiopathology Unit and Diagnostic Immunology Unit, Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital, IRCCS Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Rita
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Carsetti
authors.affiliation: Laboratory Medicine Department, San Camillo Hospital Treviso, Italy.
authors.forename: Isabella
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Lante
authors.affiliation: Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital, IRCCS Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Bruno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Dallapiccola
authors.affiliation: Human Microbiome Unit, Area of Genetic and Rare Diseases, Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital, IRCCSRome, Italy; Unit of Parasitology, Department of Laboratory, Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital, IRCCSRome, Italy.
authors.forename: Lorenza
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Putignani
keywords: MGM metaproteomics; MGM programming phylotypes; axenic culture-based MALDI–TOF MS; host genetics and maternal milk induced metaproteome; mouse gut microbiota (MGM)