Born to be wild: utilizing natural microbiota for reliable biomedical research

Area of Science:

• Microbiology
• Immunology
• Animal Models

Background:

• Specific pathogen-free (SPF) laboratory mice are standard in biomedical research.
• Housing-specific variations in SPF microbiota composition and diversity lead to inconsistent experimental data.
• Microbiota-dependent inconsistencies raise doubts about the suitability of mice as model organisms.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the impact of microbial diversity on the stability and reproducibility of mouse models.
• To propose a strategy for enhancing the robustness of mouse physiology and experimental validity.

Main Methods:

• The study postulates that increased species diversity improves microbiota stability.
• It suggests a correlation between biological diversity and stability.
• The research proposes a worldwide initiative to define a 'wild' microbiota.

Main Results:

• Variations in SPF microbiota composition affect immune and nonimmune cell functions.
• These variations lead to systemic physiological changes in mice.
• Inconsistencies in microbiota-dependent results compromise experimental validity.

Conclusions:

• Increasing microbial species diversity can enhance microbiota stability and mouse physiology.
• This approach can improve the robustness, reproducibility, and validity of experiments using mouse models.
• A global effort to define a standardized, transplantable 'wild' microbiota is proposed to overcome housing-specific variations.