{"title":"Gut microbial enzymes and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis: Function, mechanism, and therapeutic prospects","authors":"Xi Luo, Kai Wang, Changtao Jiang","doi":"10.1016/j.chom.2025.04.020","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chom.2025.04.020","url":null,"abstract":"Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) is the most prevalent liver disease worldwide. The liver communicates with the intestine, in large part through the gut microbiota. Microbial enzymes are key mediators that affect the progression of MASLD and the more severe metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH). These enzymes contribute to the metabolism or biosynthesis of steroids, fatty acids, amino acids, ethanol, choline, and intestinal hormones that contribute to disease progression. Additionally, dysbiosis and functional alterations in the microbiota compromise the intestinal barrier, increasing its permeability to bacterial metabolites and liver exposure to microbial-associated molecular patterns (MAMPs), thereby exacerbating liver inflammation and fibrosis. Furthermore, functional alterations in the gut microbiota can modulate intestinal signaling pathways through metabolites or gut hormones, subsequently affecting hepatic metabolism. A deeper understanding of the roles of the gut microbiota and microbial enzymes in MASH will facilitate the development of personalized treatments targeting specific gut microbes or functional enzymes.","PeriodicalId":9693,"journal":{"name":"Cell host & microbe","volume":"33 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":30.3,"publicationDate":"2025-05-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144137122","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"E. coli prophages encode an arsenal of defense systems to protect against temperate phages","authors":"Lucas R. Brenes, Michael T. Laub","doi":"10.1016/j.chom.2025.04.021","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chom.2025.04.021","url":null,"abstract":"In recent years, dozens of anti-phage defense systems have been identified. However, efforts to find these systems have focused predominantly on lytic phages, leaving defense against temperate phages poorly understood. Here, we isolated 33 temperate phages from a diverse collection of <em>E. coli</em> to create a library of single lysogens, which were tested for defense against the same set of temperate phages. We found that the majority of lysogens offer protection against at least one additional phage from the collection, often displaying broad defense against various phages. Defense efficacy varies based on growth media and host background, suggesting that some systems are context dependent. Using an iterative deletion-based strategy, we identify 17 systems responsible for the prophage-encoded defense, including 5 toxin-antitoxin modules. Collectively, our work uncovers a diverse array of phage-phage interactions and indicates that temperate phages encode a previously unrecognized arsenal of anti-phage defense systems.","PeriodicalId":9693,"journal":{"name":"Cell host & microbe","volume":"78 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":30.3,"publicationDate":"2025-05-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144114388","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Huanhuan Lu, Caiyi Lu, Sha Huang, Wenbo Liu, Like Wang, Chuanwei Yang, Ertao Wang, Lin Li
{"title":"Rhizosphere microbes mitigate the shade avoidance responses in Arabidopsis","authors":"Huanhuan Lu, Caiyi Lu, Sha Huang, Wenbo Liu, Like Wang, Chuanwei Yang, Ertao Wang, Lin Li","doi":"10.1016/j.chom.2025.04.019","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chom.2025.04.019","url":null,"abstract":"Shade avoidance responses are defined as the plastic responses of plants to neighboring shading signals through changes in the light spectrum, which limit planting density in modern agricultural practices. Here, we found that shade avoidance responses depend on soil microbes and identified a microbe-root-shoot circuit that bolsters aboveground shade tolerance in <em>Arabidopsis thaliana</em>. Rhizosphere microbes systemically regulate the expression of aboveground shade-responsive genes, which are associated with the altered homeostasis of jasmonic-acid- and salicylic-acid-related metabolites. We further found that the plasma-membrane-localized pattern recognition receptors FLS2/BAK1 and transcription factors MYC2/phytochrome-interacting factors (PIFs)/LONG HYPOCOTYL5 (HY5) are required for rhizosphere-microbe-alleviated shade avoidance. Our study characterized a signaling cascade (FLS2/BAK1-MYC2-PIF4/HY5) and provided a strategy for mitigating aboveground shade responses using rhizosphere microorganisms.","PeriodicalId":9693,"journal":{"name":"Cell host & microbe","volume":"18 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":30.3,"publicationDate":"2025-05-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144103981","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Arjun K. Aditham, Caelan E. Radford, Caleb R. Carr, Naveen Jasti, Neil P. King, Jesse D. Bloom
{"title":"Deep mutational scanning of rabies glycoprotein defines mutational constraint and antibody-escape mutations","authors":"Arjun K. Aditham, Caelan E. Radford, Caleb R. Carr, Naveen Jasti, Neil P. King, Jesse D. Bloom","doi":"10.1016/j.chom.2025.04.018","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chom.2025.04.018","url":null,"abstract":"Rabies virus causes nearly 60,000 human deaths annually. Antibodies that target the rabies glycoprotein (G) are being developed as post-exposure prophylactics, but mutations in G can render such antibodies ineffective. Here, we use pseudovirus deep mutational scanning to measure how all single-amino-acid mutations to G affect cell entry and neutralization by a panel of antibodies. These measurements identify sites critical for G function and define constrained regions that are attractive epitopes for clinical antibodies, including at the apex and base of the protein. We provide complete maps of escape mutations for eight monoclonal antibodies, including some in clinical use or development. Escape mutations for most antibodies are present in some natural rabies strains. Overall, this work provides comprehensive information on the functional and antigenic effects of G mutations that can inform development of stabilized vaccine antigens and antibodies that are resilient to rabies genetic variation.","PeriodicalId":9693,"journal":{"name":"Cell host & microbe","volume":"12 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":30.3,"publicationDate":"2025-05-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144097514","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Decoding WEEV’s host adaptation","authors":"Yinong Qiu, Lei Sun","doi":"10.1016/j.chom.2025.04.006","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chom.2025.04.006","url":null,"abstract":"The Western equine encephalitis virus (WEEV), an alphavirus causing severe neurological disease, exhibits fluctuating epidemic patterns and enigmatic host adaptability. Recent studies by Raju et al. and Fan et al. in <em>Cell</em> reveal glycoprotein modifications enabling receptor switching, explaining its reduced human pathogenicity while underscoring re-emergence risks.","PeriodicalId":9693,"journal":{"name":"Cell host & microbe","volume":"4 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":30.3,"publicationDate":"2025-05-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143946249","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Marie Goepp, Jemma V. Milburn, Birong Zhang, Yijia Dong, Victoria Tyrrell, Xiaozhong Zheng, Jennifer M. Marshall, Silvia Bolsega, Marijana Basic, Laura Glendinning, Gwo-Tzer Ho, Jack Satsangi, Richard M. Breyer, Shuh Narumiya, Henry J. McSorley, Jürgen K.J. Schwarze, Christopher J. Anderson, David H. Dockrell, Adriano G. Rossi, André Bleich, Chengcan Yao
{"title":"Age-related impairment of intestinal inflammation resolution through an eicosanoid-immune-microbiota axis","authors":"Marie Goepp, Jemma V. Milburn, Birong Zhang, Yijia Dong, Victoria Tyrrell, Xiaozhong Zheng, Jennifer M. Marshall, Silvia Bolsega, Marijana Basic, Laura Glendinning, Gwo-Tzer Ho, Jack Satsangi, Richard M. Breyer, Shuh Narumiya, Henry J. McSorley, Jürgen K.J. Schwarze, Christopher J. Anderson, David H. Dockrell, Adriano G. Rossi, André Bleich, Chengcan Yao","doi":"10.1016/j.chom.2025.04.014","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chom.2025.04.014","url":null,"abstract":"Aging manifests a decline of immune function, induces microbiome dysbiosis, drives organ inflammation, and impedes the resolution of inflammation. However, the mechanisms underlying age-related intestinal inflammation remain poorly described. Here, we find that the resolution of T cell-initiated intestinal inflammation is impaired with aging. This impairment is mediated by disrupting the immune-microbiota interplay, controlled by intestinal eicosanoid metabolism. Pharmacologically inhibiting eicosanoid biosynthesis, blocking the prostaglandin E receptor subtype 4 (EP4), or genetically ablating EP4 diminishes age-related impairment of intestinal inflammation resolution. Mechanistically, mononuclear phagocyte-intrinsic eicosanoid-EP4 signaling impedes the resolution of intestinal inflammation through fostering gut microbial dysbiosis and, more importantly, interrupting segmented filamentous bacterial adhesion to the intestinal epithelium. Colonization with EP4-ablated mouse microbiota or segmented filamentous bacteria improves the resolution of intestinal inflammation. These findings reveal that eicosanoid-dependent immune-microbiota interactions impair inflammation resolution in the aged intestine, highlighting potential intervention strategies for improving age-related gut health.","PeriodicalId":9693,"journal":{"name":"Cell host & microbe","volume":"43 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":30.3,"publicationDate":"2025-05-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143946251","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Antibiotics fire up inflammation to cool vaccine responsiveness","authors":"James G. Kublin","doi":"10.1016/j.chom.2025.04.015","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chom.2025.04.015","url":null,"abstract":"In this issue of <em>Cell Host & Microbe</em>, Feng et al. find that broad-spectrum antibiotics perturbed the ecology of the gut microbiome in individuals receiving a rabies vaccine, resulting in systemic inflammatory responses. Such inflammation is hypothesized to alter immune homeostasis with consequences for immunological responsiveness to vaccination.","PeriodicalId":9693,"journal":{"name":"Cell host & microbe","volume":"55 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":30.3,"publicationDate":"2025-05-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143946164","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Predator-prey interplay: When chemical conversation turns deadly","authors":"Natália Carolina Drebes Dörr, Cristina Elisa Alvarez-Martinez","doi":"10.1016/j.chom.2025.04.012","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chom.2025.04.012","url":null,"abstract":"Bacteria deploy many distinct mechanisms to resist protist predation in natural environments. In a recent study published in <em>Cell</em>, Zhang et al. discover a chemical radar used by the plant pathogen <em>Pseudomonas syringae</em> to sense and kill an amoeba predator.","PeriodicalId":9693,"journal":{"name":"Cell host & microbe","volume":"29 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":30.3,"publicationDate":"2025-05-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143946250","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The amazing impact of gut microbes on lifelong metabolic health","authors":"M.B. Geuking, C.A. Thomson","doi":"10.1016/j.chom.2025.04.007","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chom.2025.04.007","url":null,"abstract":"A new study published in <em>Science</em><span><span><sup>1</sup></span></span> reveals a crucial connection between our neonatal gut microbiota composition and the long-term health of our pancreas, specifically focusing on β-cell development and the subsequent lifelong impact microbe-induced β-cell expansion has on metabolic health, including prevention of, and even potential reversal of, diabetes.","PeriodicalId":9693,"journal":{"name":"Cell host & microbe","volume":"122 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":30.3,"publicationDate":"2025-05-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143946247","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Unveiling strain-level dynamics in the human skin microbiome","authors":"Zhiming Li, Jingjing Xia, Jiucun Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.chom.2025.03.014","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chom.2025.03.014","url":null,"abstract":"Species-level uniformity on the skin surface masks substantial strain-level diversity modulated by ecological dynamics. In this issue of <em>Cell Host & Microbe</em>, Jacob et al. uncover dynamic intraspecies behaviors, revealing different patterns of colonization and persistence for two important skin commensals.","PeriodicalId":9693,"journal":{"name":"Cell host & microbe","volume":"123 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":30.3,"publicationDate":"2025-05-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143946160","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}