Gene expression profiles of germ-free and conventional piglets from the same litter

Abstract

Germ-free (GF) pigs have clear microbiological backgrounds, and are extensively used as large animal models in the biomedical sciences. However, investigations of the transcriptomic differences between GF and cesarean-derived conventional (CV) piglets are limited. To improve our understanding of GF pigs, and to increase the utility of pigs as an alternative non-rodent model, we used RNA sequencing to profile gene expression in five tissues (the oral mucosae, jejunum, colon, liver, and spleen) of four male GF piglets and four male CV piglets from the same litter. We identified 14 genes that were differentially expressed in all five tissues. Seven of these common differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were interferon-inducible genes, and all 14 were consistently downregulated in the GF piglets as compared to the CV piglets. Compared to the other tissues tested, the expression of transcription factors (TFs) in the colon was most affected by the absence of a microbiota. The expression patterns of immune-related genes were downregulated in the GF piglets as compared to the CV piglets, indicating that the intestinal microbiota influenced gene expression in other tissues besides the gut. Gene Ontology (GO) analysis indicated that, in pigs, the intestinal microbiota affected the expression of genes related to immune system function and development.

Post‐natal co‐development of the microbiota and gut barrier function follows different paths in the small and large intestine in piglets

“…Intestinal organoids derived from small intestine or colon of adult mice recapitulate markers of small intestine and colon epithelia, F I G U R E 8 Correlation matrix of microbiota (at the family level) and mucosal parameters in the jejunum. 28 Collectively, those data suggests both in utero programming and post-natal programming of intestinal epithelial stem cells that would deserve further investigations, especially the role of epigenetic influences that could be induced by alteration of the luminal environment, 29 especially in early life. Significant (P > .05) correlations are indicated with color-coding for negative (red) and positive (blue) correlations | 1441 ARNAUD et Al.…”

Hypochlorous acid-generating electrochemical scaffold eliminates Candida albicans biofilms

“…In our prior study, we studied pigs from commercial butchers for which HOCl-produced from e-scaffolds had no apparent effect (Kiamco et al 2019). Gnotobiotic pigs have downregulated genes required for T-cell receptor signalling compared to nongerm-free pigs (Sun et al 2018); expression of these and other genes involved in immune function appears to be altered as a result of lack of gut microbiota (Sun et al 2018). This might explain the difference between the cell viability experiment in previous work (Kiamco et al 2019) and in the current study.…”

Abnormal Food Timing Promotes Alcohol-Associated Dysbiosis and Colon Carcinogenesis Pathways

“…These findings suggest that altered colonic gene expression may in part be related to the microbial changes imposed by WTE and alcohol. While alcohol and circadian rhythm each can affect the intestinal gene expression (15,(60)(61)(62)(63), the effect of gut microbiota on intestinal gene expression has been mostly studied in germfree animal models or following the eradication of the bacteria by broad-spectrum antibiotic cocktail (64,65).…”