The role of intestinal microbial metabolites in regulation of host physiology

哺乳动物的肠道中有大量的微生物。个体之间的微生物群落结构存在很大差异，在过去十年中，越来越明显的是，这一群体在塑造宿主生理学方面发挥着重要作用，尽管其机制在很大程度上不具特征。当食物被消耗时，微生物积极代谢饮食成分，导致产生不同的分子，这些分子有可能影响宿主的生理学。我建议研究微生物种群的选择成员如何影响分子的产生，这些分子通过系统地从肠道中去除细菌种群来影响宿主。我们将测量微生物种群的变化如何影响信号分子的产生，并随后改变宿主生理学。这项研究的结果将为我们的微生物共生体的生态和代谢活动提供新的见解，并确定新的生物活性分子以及参与微生物调节宿主的宿主信号通路。在描述微生物-哺乳动物相互作用的基本原理时，我们将开始了解微生物群的变化如何影响宿主。更好地了解微生物对肠道生理学的贡献方式将使加拿大受益，为改善人类和动物的肠道健康提供新的工具和策略，并将促进无抗生素的动物生产系统。

An abundant population of microbes colonizes the mammalian gut. There are substantial variations in the structure of the microbial community between individuals, and over the past decade it has become increasingly apparent that this population plays an important role in shaping host physiology, although through largely uncharacterized mechanisms. When food is consumed microbes actively metabolizes dietary constituents resulting in the production of diverse molecules, which have the potential to impact host physiology. I propose to investigate how select members of the microbial population affect the production of molecules that impact the host by systematically removing bacterial populations from from the gut. We will measure how the changes in microbial population affect the production of signaling molecules and subsequently change host physiology. The findings of this research will provide new insights into the ecology and metabolic activity of our microbial symbionts and identify new bioactive molecules as well as host signaling pathways involved in microbial regulation of the host. In characterizing the fundamentals of microbe-mammalian interactions we will begin understand how changes in the microbiota impact the host. Having an improved understanding of the way microbes contribute to intestinal physiology will benefit Canada by providing new tools and strategies to improve intestinal health of both humans and animals and will facilitate antibiotic free animal production systems.