SUMMARY Interactions between the microbiota and distal gut are fundamental determinants of human health. Such interactions are concentrated at the colonic mucosa and provide energy for the host epithelium through the production of the short-chain fatty acid butyrate. We sought to determine the role of epithelial butyrate metabolism in establishing the austere oxygenation profile of the distal gut. Bacteria-derived butyrate affects epithelial O2 consumption and results in stabilization of hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF), a transcription factor coordinating barrier protection. Antibiotic-mediated depletion of the microbiota reduces colonic butyrate and HIF expression, both of which are restored by butyrate supplementation. Additionally, germ-free mice exhibit diminished retention of O2-sensitive dyes and decreased stabilized HIF. Furthermore, the effects of butyrate are lost in cells lacking HIF, thus linking butyrate metabolism to stabilized HIF and barrier function. This work highlights a mechanism where host-microbe interactions augment barrier function in the distal gut.

Polycomb repressive complex-2 (PRC2) is a histone methyltransferase required for epigenetic silencing during development and cancer. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) recruit PRC2 to chromatin, but the general role of RNA in maintaining repressed chromatin is unknown. Here we measure the binding constant of human PRC2 to various RNAs and find comparable affinity for human lncRNAs targeted by PRC2 and irrelevant transcripts from ciliates and bacteria. PRC2 binding is size-dependent, with lower affinity for shorter RNAs. In vivo, PRC2 predominantly occupies repressed genes; PRC2 is also associated with active genes, but most of these are not regulated by PRC2. These findings support a model in which promiscuous binding of PRC2 to RNA transcripts allows it to scan for target genes that have escaped repression, leading to maintenance of the repressed state. Such RNAs may also provide a decoy for PRC2.

In recent years, the intestinal mucosa has proven to be an intriguing organ to study tissue oxygenation. The highly vascularized lamina propria juxtaposed to an anaerobic lumen containing trillions of metabolically active microbes results in one of the most austere tissue microenvironments in the body. Studies to date have determined that a healthy mucosa contains a steep oxygen gradient along the length of the intestine and from the lumen to the serosa. Advances in technology have allowed multiple independent measures and indicate that, in the healthy mucosa of the small and large intestine, the lumen-apposed epithelia experience Po2 conditions of <10 mmHg, so-called physiologic hypoxia. This unique physiology results from a combination of factors, including countercurrent exchange blood flow, fluctuating oxygen demands, epithelial metabolism, and oxygen diffusion into the lumen. Such conditions result in the activation of a number of hypoxia-related signaling processes, including stabilization of the transcription factor hypoxia-inducible factor. Here, we review the principles of mucosal oxygen delivery, metabolism, and end-point functional responses that result from this unique oxygenation profile.

Commensal interactions between the enteric microbiota and distal intestine play important roles in regulating human health. Short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), such as butyrate, produced through anaerobic microbial metabolism represent a major energy source for the host colonic epithelium and enhance epithelial barrier function through unclear mechanisms. Separate studies revealed that the epithelial anti-inflammatory interleukin-10 receptor α-subunit (IL-10RA) is also important for barrier formation. Based on these findings, we examined if SCFAs promote epithelial barrier through IL-10RA-dependent mechanisms. Using human intestinal epithelial cells (IECs), we discovered that SCFAs, particularly butyrate, enhanced IEC barrier formation, induced IL10RA mRNA, IL-10RA protein, and transactivation through activated Stat3 and HDAC inhibition. Loss and gain of IL10RA expression directly correlates with IEC barrier formation and butyrate represses permeability-promoting claudin-2 (Cldn2) tight-junction protein expression through an IL-10RA-dependent mechanism. Our findings provide a novel mechanism by which microbial-derived butyrate promotes barrier through IL-10RA-dependent repression of Cldn2.

Centrosome aberrations are a frequent finding in human tumors. However, very little is known about the molecular mechanisms leading to disruption of centrosome duplication control and the functional consequences of aberrant centrosome numbers. The high-risk human papillomavirus Type 16 (HPV-16) E6 and E7 oncoproteins are overexpressed in HPV-associated malignancies of the anogenital tract and have been instrumental in delineating different pathways of centrosome amplification. Whereas the E6 oncoprotein was found to provoke centrosome accumulation, the HPV-16 E7 oncoprotein triggers a genuine disruption of the centrosome duplication cycle. Importantly, the E7 oncoprotein can rapidly cause centrosome overduplication through a pathway that involves the concurrent formation of multiple daughters at single maternal centrioles (centriole flowers). Several lines of evidence suggest that cyclin E/CDK2 complexes and Polo-like kinase 4 (PLK4) are crucial players in this process. These findings underscore that the HPV-16 E7 oncoprotein is a unique tool to dissect normal and abnormal centriole biogenesis and the underlying molecular circuitry.