Kinetic and mechanistic diversity of intestinal immune homeostasis characterized by rapid removal of gut bacteria

• Published in: Gut microbes Vol. 15; no. 1; p. 2201154
• Main Authors: Jung, Da-Jung, Gebremedhin, Ledia, Goh, Byoungsook, Yoo, Ji-Sun, Gazzaniga, Francesca, Kasper, Dennis L, Oh, Sungwhan F
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Taylor & Francis 2023; Taylor & Francis Group
• Subjects: Animals; antibiotic treatment; Bacteria - genetics; Bacteria - metabolism; Brief Report; Colon; Gastrointestinal Microbiome; Germ-free mice; gut microbiota; Homeostasis; Mice; Microbiota - physiology; mucosal immunology; mucosal immunology; antibiotic treatment; Germ-free mice; gut microbiota
• ISSN: 1949-0976; 1949-0984
• DOI: 10.1080/19490976.2023.2201154

Symbiotic microbiota critically contribute to host immune homeostasis in effector cell-specific manner. For exclusion of microbial component, germ-free animals have been the gold standard method. However, total removal of the entire gut microbiota of an animal from birth significantly skews physiological development. On the other hand, removal of gut microbiota from conventional mice using oral antibiotics has its own limitations, especially lack of consistency and the requirement for long-term treatment period. Here, we introduce an improved regimen to quickly remove gut microbiota and to maintain sterility, that is well received by animals without refusal. Rapid and consistent exclusion of resident bacteria in the gut lumen revealed kinetic differences among colonic lymphocyte subsets, which cannot be observed with typical germ-free animal models. Furthermore, the proposed method distinguished the mechanism of microbiota contribution as a direct stimulus to capable effector cells and a homeostatic cue to maintain such cell types.