Multi-omics Analyses of Radiation Survivors Identify Radioprotective Microbes and Metabolites

Overview

Journal Science

Specialty Science

Date 2020 Oct 30

PMID 33122357

Citations 210

Authors

Hao Guo

Wei-Chun Chou

Yunjia Lai

Kaixin Liang

Jason W Tam

W June Brickey

Liang Chen

Nathan D Montgomery

Xin Li

Lauren M Bohannon

Anthony D Sung

Nelson J Chao

Jonathan U Peled

Antonio L C Gomes

Marcel R M van den Brink

Matthew J French

Andrew N Macintyre

Gregory D Sempowski

Xianming Tan

R Balfour Sartor

Kun Lu

Jenny P Y Ting

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Ionizing radiation causes acute radiation syndrome, which leads to hematopoietic, gastrointestinal, and cerebrovascular injuries. We investigated a population of mice that recovered from high-dose radiation to live normal life spans. These "elite-survivors" harbored distinct gut microbiota that developed after radiation and protected against radiation-induced damage and death in both germ-free and conventionally housed recipients. Elevated abundances of members of the bacterial taxa and were associated with postradiation restoration of hematopoiesis and gastrointestinal repair. These bacteria were also found to be more abundant in leukemia patients undergoing radiotherapy, who also displayed milder gastrointestinal dysfunction. In our study in mice, metabolomics revealed increased fecal concentrations of microbially derived propionate and tryptophan metabolites in elite-survivors. The administration of these metabolites caused long-term radioprotection, mitigation of hematopoietic and gastrointestinal syndromes, and a reduction in proinflammatory responses.

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