The autism-associated Neuroligin-3 R451C mutation alters mucus density and the spatial distribution of bacteria in the mouse gastrointestinal tract
Herath, M.; Bornstein, J. C.; Hill-Yardin, E. L.; Franks, A. E.
Show abstract
The intestinal mucus layer protects the host from invading pathogens and is essential for maintaining a healthy mucosal microbial community. Alterations in the mucus layer and composition of mucus-residing microbiota in people diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD; autism) may contribute to dysbiosis and gastrointestinal (GI) dysfunction. Although microbial dysbiosis based on sequencing data is frequently reported in autism, spatial profiling of microbes adjacent to the mucosa is needed to identify changes in bacterial subtypes in close contact with host tissues. Here, we analysed the spatial distribution of the MUC-2 protein using immunofluorescence as well as total bacteria, Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes phyla and Akkermansia muciniphila (A. muciniphila) using fluorescent in situ hybridization in mice expressing the autism-associated R451C mutation in the Neuroligin-3 (Nlgn3) gene. We show that the Nlgn3 R451C mutation increases mucus density adjacent to the distal ileal epithelium in mice. The relative density of total bacteria, Firmicutes and A. muciniphila was increased whereas the density of Bacteroidetes was decreased closer to the epithelium in Nlgn3R451C mice. In summary, this study suggests that increased mucus density could contribute to mucosal microbial dysbiosis in ASD.
Matching journals
The top 9 journals account for 50% of the predicted probability mass.
Similar papers in this journal
- Altered auditory maturation in Fragile X syndrome and its involvement in audiogenic seizure susceptibility 88%
- Altered primary somatosensory neuron development in a Pten heterozygous model for autism spectrum disorder 88%
- Expression changes in immune and epigenetic gene pathways associated with nutritional metabolites in maternal blood from pregnancies resulting in autism and atypical neurodevelopment 88%
Similar papers in this journal
- The Autoimmune Susceptibility Gene, PTPN2, Restricts Expansion of a Novel Mouse Adherent-Invasive E. coli 93%
- Gut microbiota transplantation drives the adoptive transfer of colonic genotype-phenotype characteristics between mice lacking catestatin and their wild type counterparts 93%
- Spatial analysis of gut microbiome reveals a distinct ecological niche associated with the mucus layer. 92%
Similar papers in this journal
- Gut transit and gut microbiome changes occur prior to the onset of motor impairment in a mouse model of Machado-Joseph disease 92%
- Vitamin D modulates cortical transcriptome and behavioral phenotypes in an Mecp2 heterozygous Rett syndrome mouse model 89%
- TDP-43-M323K causes abnormal brain development and progressive cognitive and motor deficits associated with mislocalised and increased levels of TDP-43. 88%
"Similar papers" are the closest papers from that journal in the model's embedding space. They show what the match is built on, but the ranking comes mostly from a classifier over the whole training set, not from these examples alone.