RRC ID 53877
Author Nakashima K, Kimura S, Ogawa Y, Watanabe S, Soma S, Kaneko T, Yamada L, Sawada H, Tung CH, Lu TM, Yu JK, Villar-Briones A, Kikuchi S, Satoh N.
Title Chitin-based barrier immunity and its loss predated mucus-colonization by indigenous gut microbiota.
Journal Nat Commun
Abstract Mammalian gut microbiota are integral to host health. However, how this association began remains unclear. We show that in basal chordates the gut space is radially compartmentalized into a luminal part where food microbes pass and an almost axenic peripheral part, defined by membranous delamination of the gut epithelium. While this membrane, framed with chitin nanofibers, structurally resembles invertebrate peritrophic membranes, proteome supports its affinity to mammalian mucus layers, where gut microbiota colonize. In ray-finned fish, intestines harbor indigenous microbes, but chitinous membranes segregate these luminal microbes from the surrounding mucus layer. These data suggest that chitin-based barrier immunity is an ancient system, the loss of which, at least in mammals, provided mucus layers as a novel niche for microbial colonization. These findings provide a missing link for intestinal immune systems in animals, revealing disparate mucosal environment in model organisms and highlighting the loss of a proven system as innovation.
Volume 9(1)
Pages 3402
Published 2018-8-24
DOI 10.1038/s41467-018-05884-0
PII 10.1038/s41467-018-05884-0
PMID 30143642
PMC PMC6109156
MeSH Animals Chitin / immunology* Chordata / immunology Chordata / microbiology Ciona / immunology Ciona / microbiology Fishes / immunology Fishes / microbiology Gastrointestinal Microbiome / physiology* Intestinal Mucosa / immunology Intestinal Mucosa / microbiology Male Mice Mice, Inbred C57BL Mucus / microbiology* Nanofibers
IF 12.121
Times Cited 15
Resource
C.intestinalis / (O.japonicus) Wild C. int