Commensal microbe-derived butyrate induces the differentiation of colonic regulatory T cells
Yukihiro Furusawa, Yuuki Obata, Shinji Fukuda, Takaho A. Endo, Gaku Nakato, Daisuke Takahashi, Yumiko Nakanishi, Chikako Uetake, Keiko Kato, Tamotsu Kato, Masumi Takahashi, Noriko N. Fukuda, Shinnosuke Murakami, Eiji Miyauchi, Shingo Hino, Koji Atarashi, Satoshi Onawa, Yumiko Fujimura, Trevor Lockett, Julie M. Clarke, David L. Topping, Masaru Tomita, Shohei Hori, Osamu Ohara, Tatsuya Morita et al.
Gut commensal microbes shape the mucosal immune system by regulating the differentiation and expansion of several types of T cell1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Clostridia, a dominant class of commensal microbe, can induce colonic regulatory T (Treg) cells, which have a central role in the suppression of inflammatory and allergic responses3. However, the molecular mechanisms by which commensal microbes induce colonic Treg cells have been unclear. Here we show that a large bowel microbial fermentation product, butyrate, induces the differentiation of colonic Treg cells in mice. A comparative NMR-based metabolome analysis suggests that the luminal concentrations of short-chain fatty acids positively correlates with the number of Treg cells in the colon. Among short-chain fatty acids, butyrate induced the differentiation of Treg cells in vitro and in vivo, and ameliorated the development of colitis induced by adoptive transfer of CD4+ CD45RBhi T cells in Rag1?/? mice. Treatment of naive T cells under the Treg-cell-polarizing conditions with butyrate enhanced histone H3 acetylation in the promoter and conserved non-coding sequence regions of the Foxp3 locus, suggesting a possible mechanism for how microbial-derived butyrate regulates the differentiation of Treg cells. Our findings provide new insight into the mechanisms by which host–microbe interactions establish immunological homeostasis in the gut.
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