Indigenous bacteria from the gut microbiota regulate host serotonin biosynthesis
- PMID: 25860609
- PMCID: PMC4393509
- DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2015.02.047
Indigenous bacteria from the gut microbiota regulate host serotonin biosynthesis
Erratum in
- Cell. 2015 Sep 24;163:258
Abstract
The gastrointestinal (GI) tract contains much of the body's serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT), but mechanisms controlling the metabolism of gut-derived 5-HT remain unclear. Here, we demonstrate that the microbiota plays a critical role in regulating host 5-HT. Indigenous spore-forming bacteria (Sp) from the mouse and human microbiota promote 5-HT biosynthesis from colonic enterochromaffin cells (ECs), which supply 5-HT to the mucosa, lumen, and circulating platelets. Importantly, microbiota-dependent effects on gut 5-HT significantly impact host physiology, modulating GI motility and platelet function. We identify select fecal metabolites that are increased by Sp and that elevate 5-HT in chromaffin cell cultures, suggesting direct metabolic signaling of gut microbes to ECs. Furthermore, elevating luminal concentrations of particular microbial metabolites increases colonic and blood 5-HT in germ-free mice. Altogether, these findings demonstrate that Sp are important modulators of host 5-HT and further highlight a key role for host-microbiota interactions in regulating fundamental 5-HT-related biological processes.
Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Comment in
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Gut microbiota: the link to your second brain.Cell. 2015 Apr 9;161(2):193-4. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2015.03.033. Cell. 2015. PMID: 25860600
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Gut microbiota. Host-microbe interactions and the enteric nervous system: a new connection?Nat Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2015 Jun;12(6):311. doi: 10.1038/nrgastro.2015.69. Epub 2015 Apr 28. Nat Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2015. PMID: 25917439 No abstract available.
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