Eco-Immunology and Microbiome

The human gut microbiome plays key roles in health and disease. Although diet is a major driver of the microbiota physiology, the gut microbiota-mediated mechanisms that link diet to intestinal disorders and enteric infections are poorly understood. Our work is focused on discerning these mechanisms and underlying eco-immunological processes via colonic mucus barrier−gut microbiota interactions. Since the modern diet of developed countries  includes significantly reduced dietary fiber, we seek to understand how a fiber-deprived gut microbiota impacts human  health.

Collaborations

• Prof. Eric Martens, University of Michigan, USA
• Prof. Gabriel Nunez, University of Michigan, USA
• Prof. Bruce R. Hamaker, Purdue University, USA

Using gnotobiotic mouse models containing fully characterized human gut bacterial communities, we inted to:

• Study how a fiber-deprived gut microbiota resorts to host-secreted mucin glycoproteins leading to erosion of the colonic mucus barrier
• Investigate host immune regulation in response to the fiber-deprived gut-microbiota-mediated erosion of the colonic mucus layer
• Examine changes in host susceptibility to an intestinal pathogen (Citrobacter rodentium) during microbiota-mediated erosion of the colonic mucus layer
• Design and test practicable prebiotic diets in order to maintain populations of fiber-degrading bacteria