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http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/02/010205075032.htm
Source:
Washington University School Of Medicine (http://medinfo.wustl.edu/)
Date: Posted
2/5/2001
A paper in the Feb. 2 issue of Science reports the use of
new molecular technologies for unraveling the age-old mystery of the
relationships between ourselves and the microbes that live in our body. The
study reveals that microorganisms in the gut influence the expression of a
number of genes that are important to intestinal development and function. “We live in a world predominated by
microbes,” explains Jeffrey I. Gordon,M.D.
“These organisms have co-evolved with their mammalian hosts over millions of
years. During this time, they have been forced to become master physiologic
chemiststhey have had to develop strategies for satisfying their own
nutritional needs and various needs of their hosts. We wanted to figure out
some of the lessons that they have learned about us, and how they contribute to
our health.”
Gordon, who led the study, is the Alumni Professor and
Head of the Department of Molecular Biology and Pharmacology at Washington
University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The first author is Lora V. Hooper,
Ph.D., an instructor in molecular biology and pharmacology and a recipient of a
career development award from the Burroughs Welcome Fund.
The human intestine contains the largest society of
friendly microbes in the body. The total number of these microbes may be equal
to the total number of cells in our body. Given its large microbial society,
the intestine is the best place to turn when trying to understand how friendly
bacteria affect our genes. These bacteria don’t simply sit and wait to be fed
by the nutrients we consume. Instead, they actively shape our biology so that
they can establish and maintain homes for themselves.
The researchers addressed the general question of how
microbes and humans co-exist using mice as a model system. After raising mice
in a germ-free environment, they inoculated the animals with Bacteroides
thetaiotaomicron, a bacterium normally found in healthy human and mouse
intestines. Using two relatively new technologies DNA microarrays and laser
capture microdissection—they examined the bacterium’s effect on intestinal
functions.
DNA microarrays, or gene chips, are a direct product of
the world-wide effort to identify all of the genes in our DNA, and in the DNA
of other species. These microarrays allow scientists to examine expression of
many genes at once. “We did not have a preconceived notion of how many
intestinal functions are influenced by gut microbes,” notes Hooper. “Gene chips
allowed us to survey, in a relatively unbiased way, the effects of a common gut
microbe on more than 20,000 mouse genes.”
The team found that B. thetaiotaomicron affected genes
involved in a number of critical gut functions.
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