Computer-guided design of optimal microbial consortia for immune system modulation

Manipulation of the gut microbiota holds great promise for the treatment of diseases. However, a major challenge is the identification of therapeutically potent microbial consortia that colonize the host effectively while maximizing immunologic outcome. Here, we propose a novel workflow to select optimal immune-inducing consortia from microbiome compositicon and immune effectors measurements. Using published and newly generated microbial and regulatory T-cell (T_reg) data from germ-free mice, we estimate the contributions of twelve Clostridia strains with known immune-modulating effect to T_reg induction. Combining this with a longitudinal data-constrained ecological model, we predict the ability of every attainable and ecologically stable subconsortium in promoting T_reg activation and rank them by the T_reg Induction Score (TrIS). Experimental validation of selected consortia indicates a strong and statistically significant correlation between predicted TrIS and measured T_reg. We argue that computational indexes, such as the TrIS, are valuable tools for the systematic selection of immune-modulating bacteriotherapeutics.