Pathways and Functions of Gut Microbiota Metabolism Impacting Host Physiology

Overview

Journal Curr Opin Biotechnol

Publisher Elsevier

Specialty Biotechnology

Date 2015 Sep 5

PMID 26340103

Citations 85

Authors

Smitha Krishnan

Nicholas Alden

Kyongbum Lee

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

The bacterial populations in the human intestine impact host physiological functions through their metabolic activity. In addition to performing essential catabolic and biotransformation functions, the gut microbiota produces bioactive small molecules that mediate interactions with the host and contribute to the neurohumoral axes connecting the intestine with other parts of the body. This review discusses recent progress in characterizing the metabolic products of the gut microbiota and their biological functions, focusing on studies that investigate the responsible bacterial pathways and cognate host receptors. Several key areas are highlighted for future development: context-based analysis targeting pathways; integration of analytical approaches; metabolic modeling; and synthetic systems for in vivo manipulation of microbiota functions. Prospectively, these developments could further our mechanistic understanding of host-microbiota interactions.

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