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Updated: Jul 11, 2025
05:27
An Intestinal Gut Organ Culture System for Analyzing Host-Microbiota Interactions
Published on: June 30, 2021
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Gut microbiota promotes enteroendocrine cell maturation and mitochondrial function
Alfahdah Alsudayri1, Shane Perelman1, Annika Chura1
1Department of Neuroscience, the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center.
Biorxiv : the Preprint Server for Biology
|November 14, 2023
Summary
Gut microbes awaken intestinal nutrient-sensing cells (enteroendocrine cells) and boost mitochondrial function, crucial for regulating feeding behavior and gut-brain communication.
Area of Science:
- Gut-brain axis research
- Cellular biology
- Microbiome research
Background:
- Enteroendocrine cells (EECs) sense nutrients and regulate feeding behavior.
- The role of gut microbiota in EEC function is not well understood.
Approach:
- Transcriptomic analysis of EECs from germ-free and conventionalized zebrafish.
- Developed novel in vivo imaging and 3D automated cell tracking for cytoplasmic and mitochondrial calcium activity.
- Investigated EEC calcium dynamics and mitochondrial distribution during maturation.
Key Points:
- Microbiota colonization triggers an "EEC awakening" with increased cytoplasmic and mitochondrial calcium.
- A higher mitochondrial-to-cytoplasmic calcium ratio in conventionalized EECs correlates with maturation and basal lateral membrane mitochondrial localization.
- Nutrient stimulation enhances EEC mitochondrial calcium in conventionalized but not germ-free zebrafish.
Conclusions:
- Commensal microbiota are essential for EEC mitochondrial function and maturation.
- Microbiota-modulated EEC mitochondrial activity impacts nutrient sensing and feeding behavior.
- Targeting microbial signals offers new avenues for modulating gut-brain nutrient sensing efficiency.
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