Biology subjects

Faith, J. J.

Publications and source records attributed to Faith, J. J..

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2025

Inflammatory disease microbiomes share a functional pathogenicity predicted by C-reactive protein

We examine disease-specific and cross-disease functions of the human gut microbiome by colonizing germ-free mice, at risk for inflammatory arthritis, colitis, or neuroinflammation, with over 100 human fecal microbiomes from subjects with rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, multiple sclerosis, ulcerative colitis, Crohns disease, or colorectal cancer. We find common inflammatory phenotypes driven by microbiomes from individuals with intestinal inflammation or inflammatory arthritis, as well as distinct functions specific to microbiomes from multiple sclerosis patients. Inflammatory disease in mice colonized with human microbiomes correlated with systemic inflammation, measured by C-reactive protein, in the human donors. These cross-disease patterns of human microbiome pathogenicity mirror features of the inflammatory diseases, including therapeutic targets and the presence or absence of systemic inflammation, suggesting shared and disease-specific mechanisms by which the microbiome is shaped and drives pathogenic inflammatory responses.

immunology↗

bioRxiv2024

Long-read metagenomics empowers precise tracking of bacterial strains and their genomic changes after fecal microbiota transplantation

Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) has revolutionized the treatment of recurrent Clostridioides difficile infection (rCDI) and is being evaluated across other diseases. Accurate tracking of bacterial strains that stably engraft in recipients is critical for understanding the determinants of strain engraftment, evaluating their correlation with clinical outcomes, and guiding the development of therapeutic bacterial consortia. While short-read sequencing has advanced FMT research, it faces challenges in strain-level de novo metagenomic assembly. In this study, we described a novel framework, LongTrack, which uses long-read metagenomic assemblies and rigorous informatics tailored for FMT strain tracking. We highlighted LongTracks advantage over short-read approaches especially when multiple strains co-exist in the same sample. We showed LongTrack uncovered hundreds of engrafted strains across six FMT cases of rCDI and inflammatory bowel disease patients. Furthermore, long reads also allowed us to assess the genomic and epigenomic stability of engrafted strains during the 5-year follow-ups, revealing structural variations that may be associated with strain adaptation in a new host environment. Combined, our study advocates the use of long-read metagenomics and LongTrack to enhance strain tracking in future FMT studies, paving the way for the development of more effective defined biotherapeutic as an alternative to FMT.

microbiology↗

bioRxiv2024

HIV-1 infection is associated with depletion of germinal center B cells and a decrease in IgA+ plasma cells in the GI tract

Gastrointestinal (GI) B cells and plasma cells (PCs) are critical to mucosal homeostasis and the host response to HIV-1 infection. Here, high resolution mapping of human B cells and PCs sampled from the colon and ileum during both viremic and suppressed HIV-1 infection identified a reduction in germinal center (GC) B cells and follicular dendritic cells (FDCs) during HIV-1 viremia. IgA+ PCs are the major cellular output of intestinal GCs and were significantly reduced during viremic HIV-1 infection. PC-associated transcriptional perturbations, including type I interferon signaling, persisted in antiretroviral therapy (ART)-treated individuals, suggesting ongoing disruption of the intestinal immune milieu during ART. GI humoral immune perturbations were associated with changes in the intestinal microbiome composition and systemic inflammation. These findings highlight a key immune defect in the GI mucosa due to HIV-1 viremia. One Sentence SummaryIntestinal germinal center B cell reduction in HIV-1 infection linked to reduced IgA+ plasma cells and systemic inflammation.

immunology↗

bioRxiv2022

Gut microbiota bacterial strain richness is species specific and limits therapeutic engraftment

Despite the fundamental role of strain variation in gut microbiota function, the number of unique strains of a species that can stably colonize the human gut is still unknown. In this work, we determine the strain richness of common gut species using thousands of sequenced bacterial isolates and metagenomes. We find that strain richness varies across species, is transferable by fecal microbiota transplantation, and is low in the gut compared to other environments. Therapeutic administration of supraphysiologic numbers of strains per species only temporarily increases recipient strain richness, which subsequently converges back to the population average. These results suggest that properties of the gut ecosystem govern the number of strains of each species colonizing the gut and provide a theoretical framework for strain engraftment and replacement in fecal microbiota transplantation and defined live biotherapeutic products.

microbiology↗

bioRxiv2022

The protozoan commensal Tritrichomonas musculis is a natural adjuvant for mucosal IgA.

Immunoglobulin(Ig) A antibodies are the most abundant antibodies supporting mucosal immune homeostasis and host-microbiota interactions. Driven by gut commensal microbes, IgA-secreting plasma cells (PC) differentiate through T cell-dependent (Td) or T cell independent (Ti) mechanisms. While commensal bacteria within the microbiota are known for their ability to promote IgA, the role of non-bacterial commensal microbes on the induction of IgA remains elusive. Here, we demonstrate that permanent colonization with the protozoan commensal Tritrichomonas musculis (T.mu) promotes T-cell dependent, IgA class-switch recombination and intestinal accumulation of IgA-secreting PC. T.mu colonization specifically drives the expansion of T follicular helper cells and a unique ICOS+ non-Tfh cell population, accompanied by an increase in germinal center B cells. Blockade of ICOS:ICOSL co-stimulation or MHCII-expression on B cells are central for the induction of IgA following colonization by T.mu, implicating a previously underappreciated mode of IgA induction following protozoan commensal colonization. Finally, the commensal T.mu further improves the induction of IgA-secreting plasma cells and their peripheral dissemination, even against non-protozoan, orally ingested antigens, identifying T.mu as natural adjuvant for IgA. Collectively, these findings propose a previously unknown, protozoa-driven mode of IgA induction that supports intestinal immune homeostasis even against non-microbial antigens.

immunology↗

bioRxiv2022

Species-specific CD4+ T cells Enable Prediction of Mucosal Immune Phenotypes from Microbiota Composition

How bacterial strains within a complex human microbiota collectively shape intestinal T cell homeostasis is not well-understood. Methods that quickly identify effector strains or species that drive specific mucosal T cell phenotypes are needed to define general principles for how the microbiota modulates host immunity. We colonize germ-free mice with defined communities of cultured strains and profile antigen-specific responses directed towards individual strains ex vivo. We find that lamina propria T cells are specific to bacterial strains at the species level and can discriminate between strains of the same species. Ex vivo restimulations consistently identify the strains within complex communities that induce Th17 responses in vivo providing the potential to shape baseline immune tone via community composition. Using an adoptive transfer model of colitis, we find that lamina propria T cells respond to different bacterial strains in conditions of inflammation versus homeostasis. Collectively, our approach represents a novel method for efficiently predicting the relative impact of individual bacterial strains within a complex community and for parsing microbiota-dependent phenotypes into component fractions. SIGNIFICANCEDetermining the mechanisms by which the gut microbiome modulates the host immune system has translational potential for treating or preventing immune mediated disease. A key challenge is identifying the immunogenic bacterial strains in the setting of a complex microbiota. We use a combination of anaerobic culturing, in vitro T cell assays, gnotobiotic mouse models, and ex vivo T cell restimulations to explore the influence of species and strain diversity on the specificity of mucosal T cells. Our approach efficiently predicts the relative impact of individual bacterial strains within a complex community and can be used to parse microbiota-dependent phenotypes into component fractions.

immunology↗

bioRxiv2021

Defining Innate Immune Responses to the Human Gut Microbiota from Phylum to Strain

The functional potential of the gut microbiota remains largely uncharacterized. Efforts to understand how the immune system responds to commensal organisms have been hindered by the large number of strains that comprise the human gut microbiota. We develop a screening platform to measure innate immune responses towards 277 bacterial strains isolated from the human gut microbiota. We find that innate immune responses to gut derived bacteria are as strong as responses towards pathogenic bacteria, and vary from phylum to strain. Myeloid cells differentially rely upon TLR2 or TLR4 to sense particular taxa, an observation that predicts in vivo function. These innate immune responses can be modeled using combinations of up to 8 TLR agonists. Furthermore, the immunogenicity of strains is stable over time and following transplantation into new humans. Collectively, we demonstrate a powerful high-throughput approach to determine how commensal microorganisms shape innate immune phenotypes.

immunology↗

bioRxiv2021

Human gut derived Anaerotruncus colihominis ameliorates experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis

BackgroundThe gut microbiome plays an important role in autoimmunity including multiple sclerosis and its mouse model called experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). Prior studies have demonstrated that the multiple sclerosis gut microbiota can contribute to disease hence making it a potential therapeutic target. In addition, antibiotic treatment has been shown to ameliorate disease in the EAE mouse model of multiple sclerosis. Yet, to this date, the mechanisms mediating these antibiotics effects are not understood. Furthermore, there is no consensus on the gut derived bacterial strains that drive neuroinflammation in multiple sclerosis. ResultsHere we characterized the gut microbiome of untreated and vancomycin treated EAE mice over time to identify bacteria with neuroimmunomodulatory potential. We observed alterations in the gut microbiota composition following EAE induction. We found that vancomycin treatment ameliorates EAE and that this protective effect is mediated via the microbiota. Notably, we observed increased abundance of bacteria known to be strong inducers of regulatory T cells, including members of Clostridium clusters XIVa and XVIII in vancomycin-treated mice during the presymptomatic phase of EAE, as well as at disease peak. We identified 50 bacterial taxa that correlate with EAE severity. Interestingly, several of these taxa exist in the human gut and some of them have been implicated in multiple sclerosis including Anaerotruncus colihominis, a butyrate producer, which had a positive correlation with disease severity. We found that Anaerotruncus colihominis ameliorates EAE and this is associated with induction of ROR{gamma}t+ regulatory T cells in the mesenteric lymph nodes. ConclusionsWe identified vancomycin as a potent modulator of the gut-brain axis by promoting the proliferation of bacterial species that induce regulatory T cells. In addition, our findings reveal 50 gut commensals as regulator of the gut-brain axis that can be used to further characterize pathogenic and beneficial host-microbiota interactions in multiple sclerosis patients. Our findings suggest that elevated Anaerotruncus colihominis in multiple sclerosis patients may represent a protective mechanism associated with recovery from the disease.

microbiology↗

bioRxiv2021

Gut IgA Enhances Systemic IgG Responses to Pneumococcal Vaccines Through the Commensal Microbiota

The gut microbiota enhances systemic immunoglobulin G (IgG) responses to vaccines. However, it is unknown whether this effect involves IgA, a mucosal antibody that coats intestinal microbes. Here we found that gut IgA increased peripheral IgG responses to pneumococcal vaccines, as these responses were profoundly impaired in mice with global or mucosa-restricted IgA deficiency. The positive effect of IgA on vaccine-induced IgG production implicated gut bacteria. Indeed, IgG responses to pneumococcal vaccines were also defective in ex-germ free mice recolonized with gut microbes from mouse or human IgA-deficient donors. IgA exerted this IgG-enhancing effect by constraining the systemic translocation of intestinal commensal antigens, which caused chronic immune activation, including T cell overexpression of programmed death-1. This immune inhibitory receptor hindered vaccine-specific IgG production by eliciting functional B cell unresponsiveness, which was reverted by anti-programmed death-1 treatment. Thus, gut IgA is functionally interconnected with systemic IgG via intestinal microbes.

immunology↗

bioRxiv2020

Immunoglobulin A Antibody Composition Is Sculpted to Bind the Self Gut Microbiome

Despite being the most abundantly secreted immunoglobulin isotype, the reactivity of IgA antibodies towards each individuals own gut commensal bacteria still remains elusive. By colonizing germ-free mice with defined commensal bacteria, we found the binding specificity of bulk fecal and serum IgA towards resident gut bacteria resolves well at the species level and has modest strain level specificity. IgA hybridomas generated from lamina propria B cells of gnotobiotic mice showed that most IgA clones recognized a single bacterial species, while a small portion displayed polyreactivity. Species-specific IgAs had a range of strain specificities. Given the unique bacterial species and strain composition in each individuals gut, our findings suggest the IgA repertoire is uniquely shaped to bind our self gut bacteria.

immunology↗

bioRxiv2020

Strain population structure varies widely across bacterial species and predicts strain colonization in unrelated individuals

The population structure of strains within a bacterial species is poorly defined, despite the functional importance of strain variation in the human gut microbiota on health. Here we analyzed >1000 sequenced bacterial strains from the fecal microbiota of 47 individuals from two countries and combined them with >150,000 bacterial genomes from NCBI to quantify the strain population size of different bacterial species, as well as the frequency of finding the same strain colonized in unrelated individuals who had no opportunities for direct microbial strain transmission. Strain population sizes ranged from tens to over one-hundred thousand per species. Prevalent strains in common gut microbiota species with small population sizes were the most likely to be harbored in two or more unrelated individuals. The finite strain population size of certain species creates the opportunity to comprehensively sequence the entirety of these species prevalent strains and associate their presence in different individuals with health outcomes.

microbiology↗

bioRxiv2020

Quantification of discrete gut bacterial strains following fecal transplantation for recurrent Clostridioides difficile infection demonstrates long-term stable engraftment in non-relapsing recipients

Fecal Microbiota Transplantation (FMT), while successful for the treatment of recurrent Clostridioides difficile (rCDI) infection, lacks a quantitative identification of the discrete bacterial strains that transmit and stably engraft in recipients, and their association with clinical outcomes. Using >1,000 unique bacterial strains isolated and sequenced from a combination of 22 FMT donors and recipients, we develop a statistical approach Strainer to detect and track sequenced bacterial strains from low depth metagenomic sequencing data. On application to 14 FMT interventions, we detect stable and high engraftment of [~]71% of gut microbiota strains in recipients at even 5-years post-transplant, a remarkably durable therapeutic from a single administration. We found differential transmission and engraftment efficacy across bacterial taxonomic groups over short and long-time scales. Although [~]80% of the original pre-FMT recipient strains were eliminated by the FMT, those strains that remain persist even 5 years later, along with newer strains acquired from the environment. The precise quantification of donor bacterial strains in recipients independently explained the clinical outcomes of early and late relapse. Our framework identifies the consistently engrafting discrete bacterial strains for use in Live Biotherapeutic Products (LBP) as a safer, scalable alternative to FMT and enables systematic evaluation of different FMT and LBP study designs.

immunology↗

bioRxiv2020

Human Microbial Transplant Restores T Cell Cytotoxicity and Anti-Tumor Response to PD-L1 Blockade in Gnotobiotic Mice

Recent studies demonstrate that gut microbiota regulate tumor response to immune checkpoint blockade. Still, the mechanisms by which microbiota control tumor response to immunotherapy remain unclear. We colonized germ-free mice with cultured human-derived microbiota prior to tumor inoculation. While no human donor microbiota altered tumor growth, two distinct gut microbiota inhibited tumor response to anti-PD-L1. Colonization with non-responder microbiota led to reduced tumor immune cell infiltration and modified antigen presenting cell phenotype. RNA sequencing of tumor-infiltrating CD8+ T cells revealed enrichment for stem cell-like genes in non-responders and reduced effector-like expression conferring cytotoxic potential. Antibiotic depletion and microbiota transplant restored anti-PD-L1 response in non-responders, with expansion of effector cells and cytotoxicity. Concomitant blockade of TNF similarly improved response to anti-PD-L1 and increased cytotoxicity. These results demonstrate inhibitory roles for the microbiota in checkpoint blockade and reveal the potential for microbiota transplant and TNF blockade to overcome microbiota-mediated resistance.

immunology↗

bioRxiv2019

Defined microbiota transplant restores Th17/RORtγ+ regulatory T cell balance in mice colonized with inflammatory bowel disease microbiotas

The building evidence for the contribution of microbiota to human disease has spurred an effort to develop therapies that target the gut microbiota. This is particularly evident in inflammatory bowel diseases, where clinical trials of fecal microbiota transplant have shown some efficacy. To aid the development of novel microbiota-targeted therapies and to better understand the biology underpinning such treatments, we have used gnotobiotic mice to model microbiota manipulations in the context of microbiotas from humans with inflammatory bowel disease. Mice colonized with IBD donor-derived microbiotas exhibit a stereotypical set of phenotypes, characterized by abundant mucosal Th17 cells and a deficit in the tolerogenic ROR{gamma}t+ Treg cell subset. Transplanting healthy donor-derived microbiota into mice colonized with human IBD microbiotas lead to induction of ROR{gamma}t+ Treg cells, which was associated with an increase in the density of the microbiotas following transplant. Microbiota transplant reduced gut Th17 cells in mice colonized with a microbiota from a donor with Crohns disease. By culturing strains from this microbiota and screening them in vivo, we identified a specific strain that potently induces Th17 cells. Microbiota transplants reduced the relative abundance of this strain in the gut microbiota, correlated with a reduction in Th17 cells.

immunology↗

bioRxiv2019

Strain-level differences in gut microbiome composition determine fecal IgA levels and are modifiable by gut microbiota manipulation

Fecal IgA production depends on colonization by a gut microbiota. However, the bacterial strains that drive gut IgA production remain largely unknown. By accessing the IgA-inducing capacity of a diverse set of human gut microbial strains, we identified Bacteroides ovatus as the species that best induced gut IgA production. However, this induction varied biomodally across different B. ovatus strains. The high IgA-inducing B. ovatus strains preferentially elicited more IgA production in the large intestine through both T-cell-dependent and T-cell-independent B cell-activation pathways. Remarkably, a low-IgA phenotype in mice could be robustly and consistently converted into a high-IgA phenotype by transplanting a multiplex cocktail of high IgA-inducing B. ovatus strains but not individual ones. Thus, microbial strain specificity is essential for the optimal induction of high-IgA responses in the gut. Our results highlight the critical importance of microbial strains in driving phenotype variation in the mucosal immune system and provide a strategy to robustly modify a gut immune phenotype, including IgA production.

immunology↗

bioRxiv2018

Interleukin 22 mediates interleukin 23-induced pathology in newborn mice by disrupting the function of intestinal and pancreatic cells

Mice expressing IL-23 constitutively in the intestine or skin fail to grow and die prematurely. These phenotypes are associated with marked changes in the levels of circulating cytokines and with changes in the transcriptome of the pancreas and intestine. Marked changes are observed in the expression of molecules involved in digestion and absorption of carbohydrates, proteins, and lipids, resulting in a malabsorptive condition. Genetic ablation of IL-22, or one of the subunits of the IL-22R in mice expressing IL-23, restores normal growth and increases the life span of the animals. Mechanistically, IL-22 acts directly at the level of pancreatic acinar cells to decrease expression of the pancreas associated transcription factor 1a (Ptfla), an important transcription factor controlling expression of genes encoding pancreatic enzymes, and acinar cell identity. The results indicate that dysregulated expression of IL-23 and IL-22 has severe consequences in newborns and reveal an unsuspected role for IL-22 in controlling pancreatic enzyme secretion and food absorption.

immunology↗

bioRxiv2018

Inflammatory bowel disease microbiotas alter gut CD4 T-cell homeostasis and drive colitis in mice

To examine the functional contribution of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) microbes to immune homeostasis and colitis, we colonized unchallenged and colitis-susceptible germ-free mice with over twenty human intestinal microbiotas from healthy and IBD donors. Compared to healthy microbiotas, IBD microbiotas led to expanded ROR{gamma}t+Th17 cells and reduced ROR{gamma}t+Treg in the gut of unchallenged gnotobiotic mice and increased disease severity in colitis-susceptible mice. The proportions of ROR{gamma}t+Th17 and ROR{gamma}t+Treg induced by each microbiota were highly predictive of the human disease status and strongly correlated with disease severity in colitis-susceptible mice colonized with the same human microbiotas. The transmittable functional potential of IBD microbes suggests a mechanism for a microbial contribution to IBD pathogenesis and a potential route for its treatment and prevention.

immunology↗

bioRxiv2018

Microbial Engraftment and Efficacy of Fecal Microbiota Transplant for Clostridium difficile Patients With and Without IBD

Background & AimsRecurrent and refractory Clostridium difficile infections (CDI) are effectively treated with fecal microbiota transplant (FMT). Uncertainty exists regarding the effectiveness of FMT for CDI with underlying inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), its effects on disease activity and its effectiveness transferring the donor microbiome to patients with and without IBD. This study aims to determine FMTs effectiveness in subjects with and without IBD, its impact on IBD activity, the level of microbiome engraftment, and predictors of CDI recurrence.\n\nMethodsSubjects with and without IBD who underwent FMT for recurrent or refractory CDI between 2013 and 2016 at The Mount Sinai Hospital were followed for up to 6 months. The primary outcome was CDI recurrence 6 months after FMT. Secondary outcomes were (1) CDI recurrence 2 months after FMT; (2) Frequency of IBD flare after FMT; (3) Microbiome engraftment after FMT; (4) Predictors of CDI recurrence.\n\nResultsOverall, 134 patients, 46 with IBD, were treated with FMT. There was no difference in recurrence in patients with and without IBD at 2 months (22.5% vs 17.9%; p=0.63) and 6 months (38.7% vs 36.5%; p>0.99). Proton pump inhibitor use, severe CDI, and comorbid conditions were predictors of recurrence. The pre-FMT microbiome was not predictive of CDI recurrence. Subjects with active disease requiring medication escalation had reduced engraftment. There was no difference in engraftment based on IBD endoscopic severity at FMT.\n\nConclusionsIBD did not affect CDI recurrence rates 6 months after FMT. Pre-FMT microbiome was not predictive of recurrence, and microbial engraftment was dependent on IBD treatment escalation but not on underlying disease severity.

microbiology↗