Microbial Endocrinology as a Mechanism Governing Stress-Induced Microbiome-Gut-Brain Communication
Abstract
Physical and psychosocial stressors will be employed in mice to examine the ability of the microbiome to produce neurochemicals during stress. Using a neurochemical-directed metabolomics panel the PI’s preliminary findings demonstrate the ability of the microbiome to produce critical and potent neurochemicals that can interact with host gut receptors or be taken up by the portal circulation to reach the brain and influence behavior. In quantifying the molecular signature of gut-brain interactions that determine behavior, his team will characterize the temporal changes in the intestinal microbiome during stress using the Illumina HiSeq platform. By combining metabolomic characterization of the stressed microbiome with the microbiome profile they will be able to identify the metabolic pathways involving neurochemical biosynthesis impacting the gut-to-brain axis. Additionally, this bioinformatics-intensive approach will enable identification of the microbial community members responsible for stress-induced production of neurochemicals. This approach of first identification of the microbial endocrinology-mediated effects of stress at the level of the gut microbiome will then inform the examination of the neural targets of bacterial-produced neurochemicals that mediate the ability of the gut microbiome to influence behavior. The precise identity of the neural targets will be achieved through the use of neuroimaging using whole brain MRI and immuno-histochemical analysis. Further, the team will empirically validate the microbial endocrinology-based mechanism by the adoptive transfer of the microbiota, inducing the behavioral stress phenotype in undisturbed, naïve animals. This in effect will provide a roadmap of microbiome-gut-brain signaling during stress
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Aug 12, 2016
- Source ID
- N000141512706
Entities
People
- Mark Lyte
Organizations
- Iowa State University
- Office of Naval Research
- United States Navy