The Microbial Metabolites, Short-chain Fatty Acids, Regulate Colonic Treg Cell Homeostasis

Overview

Journal Science

Specialty Science

Date 2013 Jul 6

PMID 23828891

Citations 2540

Authors

Patrick M Smith

Michael R Howitt

Nicolai Panikov

Monia Michaud

Carey Ann Gallini

Mohammad Bohlooly-Y

Jonathan N Glickman

Wendy S Garrett

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Regulatory T cells (Tregs) that express the transcription factor Foxp3 are critical for regulating intestinal inflammation. Candidate microbe approaches have identified bacterial species and strain-specific molecules that can affect intestinal immune responses, including species that modulate Treg responses. Because neither all humans nor mice harbor the same bacterial strains, we posited that more prevalent factors exist that regulate the number and function of colonic Tregs. We determined that short-chain fatty acids, gut microbiota-derived bacterial fermentation products, regulate the size and function of the colonic Treg pool and protect against colitis in a Ffar2-dependent manner in mice. Our study reveals that a class of abundant microbial metabolites underlies adaptive immune microbiota coadaptation and promotes colonic homeostasis and health.

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