Microbes modulate sympathetic neurons via a gut-brain circuit

Gut-brain connections monitor the intestinal tissue and its microbial and dietary content1, regulating both intestinal physiological functions such as nutrient absorption and motility2,3, and brain–wired feeding behaviour2. It is therefore plausible that circuits exist to detect gut microbes and relay this information to central nervous system (CNS) areas that, in turn, regulate gut physiology4. We characterized the influence of the microbiota on enteric–associated neurons (EAN) by combining gnotobiotic mouse models with transcriptomics, circuit–tracing methods, and functional manipulation. We found that the gut microbiome modulates gut–extrinsic sympathetic neurons; while microbiota depletion led to increased cFos expression, colonization of germ-free mice with short-chain fatty acid–producing bacteria suppressed cFos expression in the gut sympathetic ganglia. Chemogenetic manipulations, translational profiling, and anterograde tracing identified a subset of distal intestine-projecting vagal neurons positioned to play an afferent role in microbiota–mediated modulation of gut sympathetic neurons. Retrograde polysynaptic neuronal tracing from the intestinal wall identified brainstem sensory nuclei activated during microbial depletion, as well as efferent sympathetic premotor glutamatergic neurons that regulate gastrointestinal transit. These results reveal microbiota–dependent control of gut extrinsic sympathetic activation through a gut-brain circuit. Overall design: Actively translated mRNA profiles from immunoprecipitated ribosome-bound mRNA from the nodose ganglion, dorsal root ganglion, and celiac superior mesentetic of Snap25:RiboTag specific pathogen free or germ free mice were prepared by deep sequencing on an Illumina NextSeq. Actively translated mRNA profiles from immunoprecipitated ribosome-bound mRNA from the nodose ganglion of SNS:RiboTag, Nav1.8:RiboTag, and Advillin:RiboTag mice were prepared by deep sequencing on an Illumina NextSeq 16S RNA profiles, from cecal samples of C57BL6/J mice given streptomycin or PBS, were prepared for deep sequencing on an Illumina MiSeq.