Mapping interactions of microbial metabolites and human receptors [article]

Dominic A Colosimo, Jeffrey A Kohn, Peter M Luo, Sun M Han, Amanda J Pickard, Arka Rao, Justin R Cross, Louis J Cohen, Sean F Brady
2019 bioRxiv   pre-print
Despite evidence linking the human microbiome to health and disease, the mechanistic details of how the microbiota affects human physiology remain largely unknown. Metabolites encoded by bacteria are expected to play an integral role in the microbiotas effect on its human host. Assigning function to these metabolites is therefore critical to determining the molecular underpinnings of the host-microbe relationship and ultimately developing microbiota inspired therapies. Here we use large-scale
more » ... nctional screening of small molecules produced by individual members of a simplified human microbiota to identify bacterial metabolites that agonize G-protein coupled receptors (GPCR). This analysis revealed a complex network of metabolite host receptor interactions and guided our identification of multiple microbiota derived agonists of GPCRs associated with diverse biological functions within the nervous and immune systems, among others. Collectively, the metabolite-receptor pairs we uncovered indicate that diverse aspects of human health are potentially modulated by structurally simple metabolites arising from primary bacterial metabolism.
doi:10.1101/614537 fatcat:uailwzngq5fr7dc5e2yipb4fy4