Shedding Light on the Function of Gut Microbiota by Metabologenomics

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  • メタボロゲノミクスが解き明かす腸内細菌叢の機能

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Abstract

Metabologenomics which integrates metabolomics and metagenomics is the novel approach toward understanding the function of gut microbiota. The human gut is colonized by a wide variety of microorganisms, the commensal microbiota. They form a highly complex microbial community and shape the host mucosal immune system through host-microbial crosstalk at the mucosal interface, which plays a vital role as the boundary between gut microbiota and our body. Homeostatic balance of the gut ecosystem is maintained by the consequences of the interactions among microbes, gut epithelial cells and mucosal immune cells. It has been postulated that an imbalance in the gut ecosystem could be a risk factor for human disorders including not only gut-associated disorders such as inflammatory bowel diseases and colorectal cancer, but also systemic diseases such as metabolic syndrome and allergy. Therefore, in order to move toward a comprehensive understanding and regulation of the gut ecosystem, we need to consider the gut ecosystem as another organ consisting of prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells in our body. Recent metagenomic and metatranscriptomic approaches can reveal the individual gut microbiome gene map and the presumed functional pathways in the gut ecosystem; however, these approaches will probably be insufficient for the identification of the responsible molecule(s) in the complex gut ecosystem. Gut microbiota-derived metabolites are considered to be the responsible factor(s) most likely in facilitating host-microbial crosstalk due to the fact that prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells utilize intestinal metabolites in the same manner. In this review, I would like to introduce recent metabolome-based research on the function of gut microbiota, and to discuss the utility of metabologenomics in progress toward a comprehensive understanding of the gut ecosystem. <br>

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