Weaning-Driven Gut Microbiome Shapes Intestinal Stem Cell Epigenetics to Train Immunological Memory (WGS)
During weaning, the shift from milk to solid food is accompanied by a rapid expansion and diversification of the gut microbiome. This triggers the weaning reaction, a programmed immune response important for long-lasting mucosal immunity that is poorly understood. Here, we characterize the impact of the gut microbiome on the DNA methylome and transcriptome of intestinal stem cells (ISCs) from weaning to young adulthood in mice. We identify a weaning- IFN-g-TET3 axis that reprograms epithelial MHC-II signaling via enhancer demethylation in ISCs, establishing a lasting transcriptional memory into adulthood. Disruption of this axis by IFN-g blockade or low-dose penicillin attenuates the microbiota-mediated epigenetic control of epithelial MHC-II signaling, leading to impaired mucosal immunity. By engaging immune crosstalk and metabolite production, the weaning microbiome drives epigenetic reprogramming, thereby establishing a microbiome-induced regulatory pathway that couples developmental cues to lifelong epithelial immune resilience. Overall design: Metagenomic shotgun sequencing was performed on mice housed under specific pathogen-free (SPF) or low-dose penicillin (LDP) conditions from 2 to 12 weeks of age. In addition, gut microbiota transfer (GMT) experiments were conducted at various time windows, including 3–15 weeks, 8–15 weeks, 12–15 weeks, 12–20 weeks, as well as from SPF donors at 15 and 20 weeks of age.