Microbiology
Citation Information: JCI Insight. 2025. https://doi.org/10.1172/jci.insight.176839.
Abstract
The standard-of-care treatment of locally advanced cervical cancer includes pelvic radiation therapy with concurrent cisplatin-based chemotherapy and is associated with a 30-50% failure rate. New prognostic and therapeutic targets are needed to improve clinical outcomes. The vaginal microbiome has been linked to the pathogenesis of cervical cancer, but little is known about the vaginal microbiome in locally advanced cervical cancer as it relates to chemoradiation. In this pilot study we utilized 16S rRNA gene community profiling to characterize the vaginal microbiomes of 26 postmenopausal women with locally advanced cervical cancer receiving chemoradiation. Our analysis revealed diverse anaerobe-dominated communities whose taxonomic composition, diversity or bacterial abundance did not change with treatment. We hypothesized that characteristics of the microbiome might correlate with treatment response. Pretreatment microbial diversity and bacterial abundance were not associated with disease recurrence. We observed a greater relative abundance of Fusobacterium in patients that later had cancer recurrence, suggesting that Fusobacterium could play a role in modifying treatment response. Taken together, this hypothesis generating pilot study provides insight into the composition and dynamics of the vaginal microbiome, offering proof-of-concept for future study of the microbiome and its relationship with treatment outcomes in locally advanced cervical cancer.
Authors
Brett A. Tortelli, Jessika Contreras, Stephanie Markovina, Li Ding, Kristine M. Wylie, Julie K. Schwarz
Citation Information: JCI Insight. 2025. https://doi.org/10.1172/jci.insight.186003.
Abstract
Chagas disease is a neglected tropical disease caused by Trypanosoma cruzi with clinical presentations ranging from asymptomatic to cardiac and/or gastrointestinal complications. The mechanisms of pathogenesis are still poorly understood, but T. cruzi strain diversity may be associated with disease progression. Therefore, we evaluated the transcriptomic response of PBMCs from macaques with natural chronic infections and tested for heterogeneity in their gene signatures. Remarkably, transcriptomic response to T. cruzi infection matched parasite strain profiles, indicating that parasite diversity is a key determinant of host response. While differences in adaptive immune responses were identified, more striking alterations of innate immune processes were detected. Thus, initial innate response to T. cruzi infection may be conditioned by parasite strain diversity, resulting in different profiles of trained immunity modulating subsequent adaptive responses, allowing parasite control or its persistence during the chronic phase. These results call for further characterization of the cross-talk between innate and adaptive immunity according to parasite diversity, and how altered trained immunity contributes to pathogenesis, as this may lead to better treatments and vaccines.
Authors
Hans Desale, Weihong Tu, Kelly Goff, Preston A. Marx, Claudia Herrera, Eric Dumonteil
Citation Information: JCI Insight. 2025. https://doi.org/10.1172/jci.insight.186649.
Abstract
Authors
Jing Zeng, Derrick Zhao, Grayson Way, Andrew Fagan, Michael Fuchs, Puneet Puri, Brian C. Davis, Xuan Wang, Emily C. Gurley, Phillip B. Hylemon, Jian-Gao Fan, Masoumeh Sikaroodi, Patrick M. Gillevet, Huiping Zhou, Jasmohan S. Bajaj
Abstract
Cross-talk between the microbiome and gut mucosa-resident immune cells plays a pivotal role in modulating immune responses to pathogens, including responses to HIV infection. However, how these interactions may differ between young MSM (YMSM) disproportionately impacted by HIV, as compared to older adult MSM (AMSM), is not well understood. A broad analysis of associations between the microbiome and rectal transcriptome revealed 10 microbial families/genera correlated with immunologic gene pathways. Specifically, the rectal transcriptome of YMSM is characterized by upregulation of T cell activation/differentiation pathways and signaling from multiple cytokine families, compared to AMSM. The microbiome of YMSM is enriched with pathogenic genera including Peptostreptococcus, shown to be positively correlated with type I interferon pathways important for antiviral immunity. These findings demonstrate that YMSM have a unique immune phenotype and rectal microenvironment and support further evaluation of biological factors that influence rectal HIV transmission.
Authors
Cassie G. Ackerley, S. Abigail Smith, Phillip M. Murray, Praveen K. Amancha, Vanessa E. Van Doren, Gregory K. Tharp, Robert A. Arthur, Rama Rao Amara, Yi-Juan Hu, Colleen F. Kelley
Citation Information: JCI Insight. 2024;9(17):e171311. https://doi.org/10.1172/jci.insight.171311.
Abstract
Sex is an often overlooked, yet compulsory, biological variable when performing biomedical research. Periodontitis is a common yet progressively debilitating chronic inflammatory disorder affecting the tissues supporting teeth that ultimately leads to tooth loss if left untreated. The incidence of periodontitis is sex biased, with increased prevalence in males compared with females but with unknown etiology. We performed a sex-specific meta-analysis using publicly available oral microbiome data from different sampling sites of patients with periodontitis and periodontally healthy controls; sex balance was established for each periodontal health condition. Our results show sex-based diversity in oral biofilms of individuals with periodontitis but not in their saliva, with increased abundance of several periodontal pathogens in subgingival plaques from females compared with males. We devised a quantitative measure, uniquely defined as the Microsexome Index (MSI), which indicates that sexual dimorphism in subgingival bacterial composition is a distinct feature of reduced microbial diversity during periodontitis but not under healthy conditions. In addition, we found that smoking exacerbates microsexome diversity in supragingival biofilms, particularly during periodontitis. Taken together, we provide insights regarding sex-based diversity in periodontitis, a disease with multiorgan associations, and provide the rationale for further mechanistic, diagnostic, and therapeutic studies.
Authors
Rita Del Pinto, Claudio Ferri, Mario Giannoni, Fabio Cominelli, Theresa T. Pizarro, Davide Pietropaoli
Citation Information: JCI Insight. 2024;9(3):e168443. https://doi.org/10.1172/jci.insight.168443.
Abstract
Aging-related abnormalities in gut microbiota are associated with cognitive decline, depression, and anxiety, but underlying mechanisms remain unstudied. Here, our study demonstrated that transplanting old gut microbiota to young mice induced inflammation in the gut and brain coupled with cognitive decline, depression, and anxiety. We observed diminished mucin formation and increased gut permeability (“leaky gut”) with a reduction in beneficial metabolites like butyrate because of decline in butyrate-producing bacteria in the aged gut microbiota. This led to suppressed expression of butyrate receptors, free fatty acid receptors 2 and 3 (FFAR2/3). Administering butyrate alleviated inflammation, restored mucin expression and gut barriers, and corrected brain dysfunction. Furthermore, young mice with intestine-specific loss of FFAR2/3 exhibited gut and brain abnormalities akin to those in older mice. Our results demonstrate that reduced butyrate-producing bacteria in aged gut microbiota result in low butyrate levels and reduced FFAR2/3 signaling, leading to suppressed mucin formation that increases gut permeability, inflammation, and brain abnormalities. These findings underscore the significance of butyrate-FFAR2/3 agonism as a potential strategy to mitigate aged gut microbiota–induced detrimental effects on gut and brain health in older adults.
Authors
Sidharth P. Mishra, Shalini Jain, Bo Wang, Shaohua Wang, Brandi C. Miller, Jea Y. Lee, Cesar V. Borlongan, Lin Jiang, Julie Pollak, Subhash Taraphder, Brian T. Layden, Sushil G. Rane, Hariom Yadav
Citation Information: JCI Insight. 2024. https://doi.org/10.1172/jci.insight.167676.
Abstract
Colon cancer affects people of all ages. However, its frequency, as well as the related morbidity and mortality, are high among older adults. The complex physiological changes in the aging gut substantially limit the development of cancer therapies. Here, we identify a unique intestinal microenvironment that is linked with an increased risk of colon cancer in older adults. Our findings show that aging markedly influences persistent fucosylation of the apical surfaces of intestinal epithelial cells, which results in a favorable environment for tumor growth. Furthermore, our findings shed light on the importance of the host-commensal interaction, which facilitates the dysregulation of fucosylation and promotes tumor growth as people get older. We analyzed colonic microbial populations at the species level to find changes associated with aging that could contribute to the development of colon cancer. Analysis of scRNAseq from previous publication datasets identifies distinct epithelial cell subtypes involved in dysregulated fucosylation in older adults. Overall, our study provides compelling evidence that excessive fucosylation is associated with the development of colon cancer, that age-related changes increase vulnerability to colon cancer, and that a dysbiosis in microbial diversity and metabolic changes in the homeostasis of older mice dysregulate fucosylation levels with age.
Authors
Zhihan Wang, Pan Gao, Kai Guo, Grace Schirrick, Jappreet Singh Gill, Jett Weis, Abby Lund Da Costa, Mansib Rahman, Het Mehta, Julia Fleecs, Shilpi Jain, Trishna Debnath, Junguk Hur, Nadeem Khan, Robert Sticca, Holly M. Brown-Borg, Donald A. Jurivich, Ramkumar Mathur
Citation Information: JCI Insight. 2023. https://doi.org/10.1172/jci.insight.164572.
Abstract
Pulmonary fibrosis is a chronic and often fatal disease. The pathogenesis is characterized by aberrant repair of lung parenchyma resulting in loss of physiological homeostasis, respiratory failure and death. The immune response in pulmonary fibrosis is dysregulated. The gut microbiome is a key regulator of immunity. The role of the gut microbiome in regulating the pulmonary immunity in lung fibrosis is poorly understood. Here, we determine the impact of gut microbiota on pulmonary fibrosis in C57BL/6 mice derived from different vendors (C57BL/6J and C57BL/6NCrl). We use germ free models, fecal microbiota transplantation and cohousing to transmit gut microbiota. Metagenomic studies of feces establish keystone species between sub-strains. Pulmonary fibrosis is microbiota dependent in C57BL/6 mice. Gut microbiota are distinct by β diversity (PERMANOVA P<0.001) and α diversity (P<0.0001). Mortality and lung fibrosis are attenuated in C57BL/6NCrl mice. Elevated CD4+ IL-10+ T cells and lower IL-6 occur in C57BL/6NCrl mice. Horizontal transmission of microbiota by cohousing attenuates mortality in C57BL/6J mice and promotes a transcriptionally altered pulmonary immunity. Temporal changes in lung and gut microbiota demonstrates that gut microbiota contribute largely to immunological phenotype. Key regulatory gut microbiota contribute to lung fibrosis generating rationale for human studies.
Authors
Stephen J. Gurczynski, Jay H. Lipinski, Joshua Y. Strauss, Shafiul Alam, Gary B. Huffnagle, Piyush Ranjan, Lucy H. Kennedy, Bethany B. Moore, David N. O'Dwyer
Citation Information: JCI Insight. 2023. https://doi.org/10.1172/jci.insight.169362.
Abstract
Control of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) depends on pro-inflammatory Th1 cells that activate infected tissue macrophages to kill resident intracellular parasites. However, pro-inflammatory cytokines produced by Th1 cells can damage tissues, and require tight regulation. Th1 cell IL-10 production is an important cell-autologous mechanism to prevent such damage. However, IL-10-producing Th1 (type I regulatory; Tr1) cells can also delay control of parasites and the generation of immunity following drug treatment or vaccination. To identify molecules to target to alter the balance between Th1 and Tr1 cells for improved anti-parasitic immunity, we compared the molecular and phenotypic profiles of Th1 and Tr1 cells in experimental VL caused by Leishmania donovani infection of C57BL/6 mice. We also identified a shared Tr1 cell protozoan signature by comparing the transcriptional profiles of Tr1 cells from mice with experimental VL and malaria. We identified LAG3 as an important co-inhibitory receptor in VL patients and experimental VL, and reveal tissue-specific heterogeneity of co-inhibitory receptor expression by Tr1 cells. We also discovered a role for the transcription factor Pbx1 in suppressing CD4+ T cell cytokine production. This work provides insights into the development and function of CD4+ T cells during protozoan parasitic infections and identifies key immunoregulatory molecules.
Authors
Chelsea L. Edwards, Jessica A. Engel, Fabian De Labastida Rivera, Susanna S. Ng, Dillon Corvino, Marcela Montes de Oca, Teija C.M. Frame, Shashi Bhushan Chauhan, Siddharth Sanker Singh, Awnish Kumar, Yulin Wang, Jinrui Na, Pamela Mukhopadhyay, Jason S. Lee, Susanne Nylén, Shyam Sundar, Rajiv Kumar, Christian R. Engwerda
Citation Information: JCI Insight. 2023. https://doi.org/10.1172/jci.insight.169020.
Abstract
The virulence of intracellular pathogens relies largely on the ability to survive and replicate within phagocytes, but also on the release and transfer into new host cells. Such cell-to-cell transfer could represent a target for counteracting microbial pathogenesis. However, our understanding of the underlying cellular and molecular processes remains woefully insufficient. Using intravital 2-photon microscopy of caspase-3 activation in the Leishmania major (L. major)-infected live skin, we show increased apoptosis in cells infected by the parasite. Also, transfer of the parasite to new host cells occurred directly without a detectable extracellular state, and was associated with concomitant uptake of cellular material from the original host cell. These in vivo findings were fully recapitulated in infections of isolated human phagocytes. Furthermore, we observed that high pathogen proliferation increased cell death in infected cells, and long-term residency within an infected host cell was only possible for slowly proliferating parasites. Our results therefore suggest that L. major drives its own dissemination to new phagocytes by inducing host cell death in a proliferation-dependent manner.
Authors
Iris Baars, Moritz Jaedtka, Leon-Alexander Dewitz, Yan Fu, Tobias Franz, Juliane Mohr, Patricia Gintschel, Hannes Berlin, Angelina Degen, Sandra Freier, Stefan M. Rygol, Burkhart Schraven, Sascha Kahlfuss, Ger van Zandbergen, Andreas J. Müller
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