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bioRxiv · 10.1101/2024.01.11.575111

Short-chain fatty acids propionate and butyrate control growth and differentiation linked to cellular metabolism

Nshanian, M.·Geller, B. S.·Gruber, J. J.·Chleilat, F.·Camarillo, J. M.·Kelleher, N. L.·Zhao, Y.·Snyder, M. P.
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Abstract

The short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) propionate and butyrate have beneficial health effects, are produced in large amounts by microbial metabolism and have been identified as unique acyl lysine histone marks. In order to better understand the function of these modifications we used ChIP-seq to map the genome-wide location of four short-chain acyl histone marks H3K18pr, H3K18bu, H4K12pr and H4K12bu in treated and untreated colorectal cancer (CRC) and normal cells, as well as in mouse intestines in vivo. We correlate these marks with open chromatin regions along with gene expression to access the function of the target regions. Our data demonstrate that propionate and butyrate bind and act as promoters of genes involved in growth, differentiation as well as ion transport. We propose a mechanism involving direct modification of specific genomic regions, by SCFA resulting in increased chromatin accessibility, and in case of butyrate, opposing effects on the proliferation of normal versus CRC cells.

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Nshanian, M., Geller, B. S., Gruber, J. J., Chleilat, F., Camarillo, J. M., Kelleher, N. L., Zhao, Y., Snyder, M. P.. 2024-01-13. Short-chain fatty acids propionate and butyrate control growth and differentiation linked to cellular metabolism. https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.01.11.575111

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