Multi-omics analyses of radiation survivors identify radioprotective microbes and metabolites.

Ionizing radiation causes acute radiation syndrome, which leads to hematopoietic, gastrointestinal, and cerebrovascular injuries. We investigated a population of mice that recovered from high-dose radiation to live normal life spans. These "elite-survivors" harbored distinct gut microbiota that developed after radiation and protected against radiation-induced damage and death in both germ-free and conventionally housed recipients. Elevated abundances of members of the bacterial taxa Lachnospiraceae and Enterococcaceae were associated with postradiation restoration of hematopoiesis and gastrointestinal repair. These bacteria were also found to be more abundant in leukemia patients undergoing radiotherapy, who also displayed milder gastrointestinal dysfunction. In our study in mice, metabolomics revealed increased fecal concentrations of microbially derived propionate and tryptophan metabolites in elite-survivors. The administration of these metabolites caused long-term radioprotection, mitigation of hematopoietic and gastrointestinal syndromes, and a reduction in proinflammatory responses. Copyright © 2020 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.

Citation

Hao Guo, Wei-Chun Chou, Yunjia Lai, Kaixin Liang, Jason W Tam, W June Brickey, Liang Chen, Nathan D Montgomery, Xin Li, Lauren M Bohannon, Anthony D Sung, Nelson J Chao, Jonathan U Peled, Antonio L C Gomes, Marcel R M van den Brink, Matthew J French, Andrew N Macintyre, Gregory D Sempowski, Xianming Tan, R Balfour Sartor, Kun Lu, Jenny P Y Ting. Multi-omics analyses of radiation survivors identify radioprotective microbes and metabolites. Science (New York, N.Y.). 2020 Oct 30;370(6516)

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PMID: 33122357

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