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Fetal programming by the maternal microbiome of offspring behavior, and DNA methylation and gene expression within the hippocampus

ABSTRACT: The microorganisms colonizing the gastrointestinal tract of animals, collectively referred to as the gut microbiome, affect numerous host behaviors dependent on the central nervous system (CNS). Studies comparing germ-free mice to normally colonized mice have demonstrated influences of the microbiome on anxiety-related behaviors, voluntary activity, and gene expression in the CNS. Additionally, there is epidemiologic evidence supporting an intergenerational influence of the maternal microbiome on neurodevelopment of offspring and behavior later in life. There is limited experimental evidence however directly linking the maternal microbiome to long-term neurodevelopmental outcomes, or knowledge regarding mechanisms responsible for such effects. Here we show that that the maternal microbiome has a dominant influence on several offspring phenotypes including anxiety-related behavior, voluntary activity, and body weight. Adverse outcomes in offspring were associated with features of the maternal microbiome including bile salt hydrolase (Bsh) expression, abundance of certain bile acids, and hepatic expression of S1pr2. In cross-foster experiments, offspring resembled their birth dam phenotypically, despite faithful colonization in the postnatal period with the surrogate dam microbiome. Genome-wide methylation analysis of hippocampal DNA identified microbiome-associated differences in methylation of 196 loci in total, 176 of which were imprinted by the maternal microbiome. Further, single-cell transcriptional analysis revealed accompanying differences in expression of several differentially methylated genes within certain hippocampal cell clusters, and vascular expression of genes associated with bile acid transport. Inferred cell-to-cell communication in the hippocampus based on coordinated ligand-receptor expression revealed differences in expression of neuropeptides associated with satiety. Collectively, these data provide proof-of-principle that the maternal gut microbiome has a dominant influence on the neurodevelopment underlying certain offspring behaviors and activities, and selectively affects genome methylation and gene expression in the offspring CNS in conjunction with that neurodevelopment.

ORGANISM(S): Mus musculus

PROVIDER: GSE239371 | GEO | 2024/11/01

REPOSITORIES: GEO

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Project description:“Dysbiosis" of the maternal gut microbiome, in response to environmental challenges such as infection, altered diet and stress during pregnancy, has been increasingly associated with abnormalities in offspring brain function and behavior. However, whether the maternal gut microbiome regulates neurodevelopment in the absence of environmental challenge remains unclear. In addition, whether the maternal microbiome exerts such influences during critical periods of embryonic brain development is poorly understood. Here we investigate how depletion, and selective reconstitution, of the maternal gut microbiome influences fetal neurodevelopment in mice. Embryos from antibiotic-treated and germ-free dams exhibit widespread transcriptomic alterations in the fetal brain relative to conventionally-colonized controls, with reduced expression of several genes involved in axonogenesis. In addition, embryos from microbiome-depleted mothers exhibit deficient thalamocortical axons and impaired thalamic axon outgrowth in response to cell-extrinsic guidance cues and growth factors. Consistent with the importance of fetal thalamocortical axonogenesis for shaping neural circuits for sensory processing, restricted depletion of the maternal microbiome from pre-conception through mid-gestation yields offspring that exhibit tactile hyposensitivity in select sensorimotor behavioral tasks. Gnotobiotic colonization of antibiotic-treated dams with a limited consortium of spore-forming bacteria indigenous to the gut microbiome prevents abnormalities in fetal brain gene expression, fetal thalamocortical axonogenesis and adult tactile sensory behavior associated with maternal microbiome depletion. Metabolomic profiling reveals that the maternal microbiota regulates levels of numerous small molecules in the maternal serum as well as the brains of fetal offspring. Select microbiota-dependent metabolites – trimethylamine N-oxide, 5-aminovalerate, imidazole propionate, and hippurate – sufficiently promote axon outgrowth from fetal thalamic explants. Moreover, maternal supplementation with the metabolites during early gestation abrogates deficiencies in fetal thalamocortical axons and prevents abnormalities in tactile sensory behavior in offspring from microbiome-depleted dams. Altogether, these findings reveal that the maternal gut microbiome promotes fetal thalamocortical axonogenesis and select tactile sensory behaviors in mice, likely by signaling of microbially modulated metabolites to neurons in the developing brain.

Project description:Maternal 5-HT1A-receptor (R) is required for the timely development of the hippocampus and the establishment of emotional behaviors in Swiss-Webster (SW) mice. A partial and/or complete loss of maternal 5-HT1AR results in delayed ventral dentate granule cell (v-DGC) development and subsequent anxiety-like phenotype in the wild-type offspring by a non-genetic, presumably epigenetic mechanism. Here we tested v-DGCs for genome-wide DNA methylation changes elicited by the receptor deficient maternal environment. We identified a set of hypomethylated regions in the offspring of receptor deficient mothers. A significant fraction of these maternal-differentially methylated regions (m-DMRs) mapped to strong CpG islands, sequences that are typically not methylated or if methylated, resistant to environmental-induced changes. Many m-DMRs mapped to exons and some were associated with expression changes. Their hypomethylation was due to an arrest in de novo methylation and, to a lesser extent, to demethylation during postnatal life indicating that the perturbation in methylation coincides with the developmental delay in DGC maturation in the offspring of receptor deficient mothers. Inhibiting methylation in differentiating neurons impaired their maturation further suggesting a link between de novo methylation and neuronal differentiation. These data suggest that methylation at specific exonic CpG-islands may contribute to the mechanism through which maternal 5-HT1AR modulates hippocampal development and consecutively the level of anxiety in the SW offspring. Reduced 5-HT1AR-binding has been reported in individuals, particularly in association with anxiety/depression, including peri/postpartum depression. Therefore, maternal receptor deficit may contribute, via a non-genetic mechanism, to the high prevalence and heritability of anxiety disorders in human. Examined transcriptomes of 5HT1A wild type offspring with 5HT1A wild type/heterozygous mother or 5HT1A KO offspring with 5HT1A of heterozygous/knock out mother

Project description:Maternal 5-HT1A-receptor (R) is required for the timely development of the hippocampus and the establishment of emotional behaviors in Swiss-Webster (SW) mice. A partial and/or complete loss of maternal 5-HT1AR results in delayed ventral dentate granule cell (v-DGC) development and subsequent anxiety-like phenotype in the wild-type offspring by a non-genetic, presumably epigenetic mechanism. Here we tested v-DGCs for genome-wide DNA methylation changes elicited by the receptor deficient maternal environment. We identified a set of hypomethylated regions in the offspring of receptor deficient mothers. A significant fraction of these maternal-differentially methylated regions (m-DMRs) mapped to strong CpG islands, sequences that are typically not methylated or if methylated, resistant to environmental-induced changes. Many m-DMRs mapped to exons and some were associated with expression changes. Their hypomethylation was due to an arrest in de novo methylation and, to a lesser extent, to demethylation during postnatal life indicating that the perturbation in methylation coincides with the developmental delay in DGC maturation in the offspring of receptor deficient mothers. Inhibiting methylation in differentiating neurons impaired their maturation further suggesting a link between de novo methylation and neuronal differentiation. These data suggest that methylation at specific exonic CpG-islands may contribute to the mechanism through which maternal 5-HT1AR modulates hippocampal development and consecutively the level of anxiety in the SW offspring. Reduced 5-HT1AR-binding has been reported in individuals, particularly in association with anxiety/depression, including peri/postpartum depression. Therefore, maternal receptor deficit may contribute, via a non-genetic mechanism, to the high prevalence and heritability of anxiety disorders in human. Examined 4 samples: 5HT1A wild type offspring with 5HT1A wild type/heterozygous mother or 5HT1A KO offspring with 5HT1A of heterozygous/knock out mother

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Fetal programming by the maternal microbiome of offspring behavior, and DNA methylation and gene expression within the hippocampus

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