scholarly journals Fine Carbohydrate Structure of Dietary Resistant Glucans Governs the Structure and Function of Human Gut Microbiota

Nutrients ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 2924
Author(s):  
Arianna D. Romero Marcia ◽  
Tianming Yao ◽  
Ming-Hsu Chen ◽  
Renee E. Oles ◽  
Stephen R. Lindemann

Increased dietary fiber consumption has been shown to increase human gut microbial diversity, but the mechanisms driving this effect remain unclear. One possible explanation is that microbes are able to divide metabolic labor in consumption of complex carbohydrates, which are composed of diverse glycosidic linkages that require specific cognate enzymes for degradation. However, as naturally derived fibers vary in both sugar composition and linkage structure, it is challenging to separate out the impact of each of these variables. We hypothesized that fine differences in carbohydrate linkage structure would govern microbial community structure and function independently of variation in glycosyl residue composition. To test this hypothesis, we fermented commercially available soluble resistant glucans, which are uniformly composed of glucose linked in different structural arrangements, in vitro with fecal inocula from each of three individuals. We measured metabolic outputs (pH, gas, and short-chain fatty acid production) and community structure via 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing. We determined that community metabolic outputs from identical glucans were highly individual, emerging from divergent initial microbiome structures. However, specific operational taxonomic units (OTUs) responded similarly in growth responses across individuals’ microbiota, though in context-dependent ways; these data suggested that certain taxa were more efficient in competing for some structures than others. Together, these data support the hypothesis that variation in linkage structure, independent of sugar composition, governs compositional and functional responses of microbiota.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arianna D. Romero Marcia ◽  
Tianming Yao ◽  
Ming-Hsu Chen ◽  
Renee E. Oles ◽  
Stephen R. Lindemann

AbstractIncreased dietary fiber consumption has been shown to increase human gut microbial diversity, but the mechanisms driving this effect remain unclear. One possible explanation is that microbes are able to divide metabolic labor in consumption of complex carbohydrates, which are composed of diverse glycosidic linkages that require specific cognate enzymes for degradation. However, as naturally derived fibers vary in both sugar composition and linkage structure, it is challenging to separate out the impact of each of these variables. We hypothesized that fine differences in carbohydrate linkage structure would govern microbial community structure and function independently of variation in glycosyl residue composition. To test this hypothesis, we fermented commercially available soluble resistant glucans, which are uniformly composed of glucose linked in different structural arrangements, in vitro with fecal inocula from each of three individuals. We measured metabolic outputs (pH, gas, and short-chain fatty acid production) and community structure via 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing. We determined that community metabolic outputs from identical glucans were highly individual, emerging from divergent initial microbiome structures. However, specific operational taxonomic units responded similarly in growth responses across individuals’ microbiota, though in context-dependent ways; these data suggested that certain taxa were more efficient in competing for some structures than others. Together, these data support the hypothesis that variation in linkage structure, independent of sugar composition, governs compositional and functional responses of microbiota.ImportancePrevious studies have reported how physical and chemical structures of carbohydrates influence the gut microbiota, however, variability across dietary fibers in monosaccharide composition and linkage structure obscures the relationship between fine polysaccharide linkage structure and microbial fitness. Revealing connections between subtle differences in glucan structure and microbial composition and metabolic responses, this study suggests much greater attention to substrate structure in the design of experiments to test fiber-microbiome responses in vitro and in vivo. Further, it underscores that, although microbiome responses to distinct fibers are individual and vary among specific glucans, similar carbohydrate structure-microbe relationships occur across individual donor communities. Together, these data may help explain why some individuals may respond (while others do not) to fiber treatments in human feeding trials and support the long-term goal of rational inclusion of specific fibers in dietary patterns to modulate the gut microbiome in support of health.


2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (20) ◽  
pp. 3355-3368 ◽  
Author(s):  
Congxiao Zhang ◽  
Kiyoharu J Miyagishima ◽  
Lijin Dong ◽  
Aaron Rising ◽  
Malika Nimmagadda ◽  
...  

Abstract MicroRNA-204 (miR-204) is expressed in pulmonary, renal, mammary and eye tissue, and its reduction can result in multiple diseases including cancer. We first generated miR-204−/− mice to study the impact of miR-204 loss on retinal and retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) structure and function. The RPE is fundamentally important for maintaining the health and integrity of the retinal photoreceptors. miR-204−/− eyes evidenced areas of hyper-autofluorescence and defective photoreceptor digestion, along with increased microglia migration to the RPE. Migratory Iba1+ microglial cells were localized to the RPE apical surface where they participated in the phagocytosis of photoreceptor outer segments (POSs) and contributed to a persistent build-up of rhodopsin. These structural, molecular and cellular outcomes were accompanied by decreased light-evoked electrical responses from the retina and RPE. In parallel experiments, we suppressed miR-204 expression in primary cultures of human RPE using anti-miR-204. In vitro suppression of miR-204 in human RPE similarly showed abnormal POS clearance and altered expression of autophagy-related proteins and Rab22a, a regulator of endosome maturation. Together, these in vitro and in vivo experiments suggest that the normally high levels of miR-204 in RPE can mitigate disease onset by preventing generation of oxidative stress and inflammation originating from intracellular accumulation of undigested photoreactive POS lipids. More generally, these results implicate RPE miR-204-mediated regulation of autophagy and endolysosomal interaction as a critical determinant of normal RPE/retina structure and function.


2015 ◽  
Vol 8s2 ◽  
pp. MBI.S31345 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick J. McNamara ◽  
Timothy M. LaPara ◽  
Paige J. Novak

A plethora of organic micropollutant mixtures are found in untreated municipal wastewater. Anaerobic digesters receive large loadings of hydrophobic micropollutants that sorb to wastewater biosolids. Despite micropollutants being pervasive as mixtures, little research is available to explain the impact that mixtures of compounds, as well as exposure time, have on microbial communities in anaerobic digesters. Perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) was added to anaerobic enrichment cultures in both short-term (14 days) and long-term (140 days) studies to determine the impact of exposure time. Additionally, triclosan was added during the experiments to investigate the impact of mixtures on community structure and function. PFOS did not alter methane production in short-term studies, but in long-term studies, methane production increased, consistent with our hypothesis that PFOS may act as a metabolic uncoupler. The impact of triclosan on methane production was exacerbated when PFOS was already present in the anaerobic enrichment cultures. Triclosan also had greater impacts on microbial community structures in the bottles that had been exposed to PFOS long-term. These results demonstrate that both chemical mixtures and exposure time are important parameters to address when trying to define the impacts of micropollutants on anaerobic microbial communities.


Molecules ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (18) ◽  
pp. 3351 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jinkui Li ◽  
Lingya Zhang ◽  
Junwen Xiong ◽  
Xiyao Cheng ◽  
Yongqi Huang ◽  
...  

Polyamines are positively charged small molecules ubiquitously existing in all living organisms, and they are considered as one kind of the most ancient cellular components. The most common polyamines are spermidine, spermine, and their precursor putrescine generated from ornithine. Polyamines play critical roles in cells by stabilizing chromatin structure, regulating DNA replication, modulating gene expression, etc., and they also affect the structure and function of proteins. A few studies have investigated the impact of polyamines on protein structure and function previously, but no reports have focused on a protein-based biological module with a dedicated function. In this report, we investigated the impact of polyamines (putrescine, spermidine, and spermine) on the cyanobacterial KaiABC circadian oscillator. Using an established in vitro reconstitution system, we noticed that polyamines could disrupt the robustness of the KaiABC oscillator by inducing the denaturation of the Kai proteins (KaiA, KaiB, and KaiC). Further experiments showed that the denaturation was likely due to the induced change of the thermal stability of the clock proteins. Our study revealed an intriguing role of polyamines as a component in complex cellular environments and would be of great importance for elucidating the biological function of polyamines in future.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. e0230200
Author(s):  
Changhui Zhao ◽  
Yunfei Hu ◽  
Huahai Chen ◽  
Baiyuan Li ◽  
Linyan Cao ◽  
...  

2011 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 112-117 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Erickson-Levendoski ◽  
Mahalakshmi Sivasankar

The epithelium plays a critical role in the maintenance of laryngeal health. This is evident in that laryngeal disease may result when the integrity of the epithelium is compromised by insults such as laryngopharyngeal reflux. In this article, we will review the structure and function of the laryngeal epithelium and summarize the impact of laryngopharyngeal reflux on the epithelium. Research investigating the ramifications of reflux on the epithelium has improved our understanding of laryngeal disease associated with laryngopharyngeal reflux. It further highlights the need for continued research on the laryngeal epithelium in health and disease.


Cells ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 868
Author(s):  
Fabiana Albani Zambuzi ◽  
Priscilla Mariane Cardoso-Silva ◽  
Ricardo Cardoso Castro ◽  
Caroline Fontanari ◽  
Flavio da Silva Emery ◽  
...  

Decitabine is an approved hypomethylating agent used for treating hematological malignancies. Although decitabine targets altered cells, epidrugs can trigger immunomodulatory effects, reinforcing the hypothesis of immunoregulation in treated patients. We therefore aimed to evaluate the impact of decitabine treatment on the phenotype and functions of monocytes and macrophages, which are pivotal cells of the innate immunity system. In vitro decitabine administration increased bacterial phagocytosis and IL-8 release, but impaired microbicidal activity of monocytes. In addition, during monocyte-to-macrophage differentiation, treatment promoted the M2-like profile, with increased expression of CD206 and ALOX15. Macrophages also demonstrated reduced infection control when exposed to Mycobacterium tuberculosis in vitro. However, cytokine production remained unchanged, indicating an atypical M2 macrophage. Furthermore, when macrophages were cocultured with lymphocytes, decitabine induced a reduction in the release of inflammatory cytokines such as IL-1β, TNF-α, and IFN-γ, maintaining IL-10 production, suggesting that decitabine could potentialize M2 polarization and might be considered as a therapeutic against the exacerbated immune response.


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