Skip to main content
ARS Home » Plains Area » Houston, Texas » Children's Nutrition Research Center » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #395768

Research Project: Metabolic and Epigenetic Regulation of Nutritional Metabolism

Location: Children's Nutrition Research Center

Title: Epigenome - A mediator for host-microbiome crosstalk

Author
item PEERY, ROBERT - Children'S Nutrition Research Center (CNRC)
item PAMMI, MOHAN - Baylor College Of Medicine
item CLAUD, ERIKA - University Of Chicago
item SHEN, LANLAN - Children'S Nutrition Research Center (CNRC)

Submitted to: Seminars in Perinatology
Publication Type: Review Article
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/15/2021
Publication Date: 10/15/2021
Citation: Peery, R.C., Pammi, M., Claud, E., Shen, L. 2021. Epigenome - A mediator for host-microbiome crosstalk. Seminars in Perinatology. 45(6). Article 151455. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.semperi.2021.151455.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.semperi.2021.151455

Interpretive Summary: Although rapid progress has been made via ongoing efforts by the Human Microbiome Projects, the underlying mechanisms by which host intestines respond to the gut microbiota for regulation of intestinal health and disease remain largely unclear. The aim of this review is to highlight our understanding of epigenetics as a vital player in host-microbiota cross talk, as well as to highlight the critical human health problem dysbiosis represents. We also provide future perspectives into the potential and feasibility for therapeutics to treat human intestinal disorders and disease via manipulation of the microbiome or epigenomics processes.

Technical Abstract: The interaction between the gut and its eventual trillions of microbe inhabitants during microbial colonization, represents a critical time period for establishing the overall health and wellbeing of an individual. The gut microbiome represents a diverse community of microbes that are critical for many physiological roles of the host including host metabolism. These processes are controlled by a fine-tuned chemical cross talk between the host and microbiota. Although the exact mechanisms behind this cross talk remains elusive, microbiota induced epigenetic mechanisms like DNA methylation and histone modifications may be key. This review presents our perspective on the epigenome as a mediator for host-microbiota cross talk, as well as methodology to study epigenetics, the role of dysbiosis in disease, and how the gut microbiome-host axis may be used in personal medicine.