Food additives are common components of processed foods consumed in a Western diet. In inflammatory bowel disease patients, some diets that exclude food additives improved clinical disease parameters, suggesting a link between food additives and disease pathogenesis. Food additives also enhanced disease severity in mouse colitis models through incompletely described mechanisms. This study examined the mechanisms by which the food additive maltodextrin (MDX) alters the development of colitis in a murine model. Interleukin-10 knockout (IL10KO) mice were fed diets supplemented with MDX or carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) to determine their impact on colitis onset and severity; microbiome composition, function, and location; colonic immune cell infiltrates; and mucus layer integrity. Primary IL10KO colonic epithelial monolayers were used to dissect the impact of MDX directly on epithelial differentiation and mucus production. MDX or CMC consumption increased the incidence and severity of colitis, as well as decreased microbiome diversity, altered microbial composition, and decreased fecal acetic acid levels. The number of mucus producing cells were decreased in food additive fed mice and resulted in increased microbial proximity to the intestinal epithelium. Additionally, MDX supplementation resulted in crypt hyperplasia and expansion of the HopX+ injury renewal stem cell niche. In primary intestinal epithelial-derived monolayers devoid of microbes and immune cells, MDX exposure decreased goblet cell number and mucus production in association with downregulated expression of the transcription factor Klf4, a marker of terminally differentiated goblet cells. These results suggest MDX disrupts the balance of epithelial cell differentiation and proliferation to contribute to disease pathogenesis through direct and indirect actions on the intestinal epithelial barrier.

The profound impact of the gut microbiome on host health has led to a revolution in biomedical research, motivating researchers from disparate fields to define the specific molecular mechanisms that mediate host-beneficial effects. The advent of genomic technologies allied to the use of model microbiomes in gnotobiotic mouse models has transformed our understanding of intestinal microbial ecology and the impact of the microbiome on the host. However, despite incredible advances, our understanding of the host-microbiome dialogue that shapes host physiology is still in its infancy. Progress has been limited by challenges associated with developing model systems that are both tractable enough to provide key mechanistic insights while also reflecting the enormous complexity of the gut ecosystem. Simplified model microbiomes have facilitated detailed interrogation of transcriptional and metabolic functions of the microbiome but do not recapitulate the interactions seen in complex communities. Conversely, intact complex communities from mice or humans provide a more physiologically relevant community type, but can limit our ability to uncover high-resolution insights into microbiome function. Moreover, complex microbiomes from lab-derived mice or humans often do not readily imprint human-like phenotypes. Therefore, improved model microbiomes that are highly defined and tractable, but that more accurately recapitulate human microbiome-induced phenotypic variation are required to improve understanding of fundamental processes governing host-microbiome mutualism. This improved understanding will enhance the translational relevance of studies that address how the microbiome promotes host health and influences disease states. Microbial exposures in wild mice, both symbiotic and infectious in nature, have recently been established to more readily recapitulate human-like phenotypes. The development of synthetic model communities from such “wild mice” therefore represents an attractive strategy to overcome the limitations of current approaches. Advances in microbial culturing approaches that allow for the generation of large and diverse libraries of isolates, coupled to ever more affordable large-scale genomic sequencing, mean that we are now ideally positioned to develop such systems. Furthermore, the development of sophisticated in vitro systems is allowing for detailed insights into host-microbiome interactions to be obtained. Here we discuss the need to leverage such approaches and highlight key challenges that remain to be addressed.

The gut microbiome and intestinal immune system are engaged in a dynamic interplay that provides myriad benefits to host health. However, the microbiome can also elicit damaging inflammatory responses, and thus establishing harmonious immune–microbiome interactions is essential to maintain homeostasis. Gut microbes actively coordinate the induction of anti-inflammatory responses that establish these mutualistic interactions. Despite this, the microbial pathways that govern this dialogue remain poorly understood. We investigated the mechanisms through which the gut symbiont Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron exerts its immunomodulatory functions on murine- and human-derived cells. Our data reveal that B. thetaiotaomicron stimulates production of the cytokine IL-10 via secreted factors that are packaged into outer membrane vesicles, in a TLR2- and MyD88-dependent manner. Using a transposon mutagenesis-based screen, we identified a key role for the B. thetaiotaomicron–encoded NADH:ubiquinone oxidoreductase (NQR) complex, which regenerates NAD+ during respiration, in this process. Finally, we found that disruption of NQR reduces the capacity of B. thetaiotaomicron to induce IL-10 by impairing biogenesis of outer membrane vesicles. These data identify a microbial pathway with a previously unappreciated role in gut microbe–mediated immunomodulation that may be targeted to manipulate the capacity of the microbiome to shape host immunity.