Li Jingjing, Ma Yunlong, Cao Yue, Zheng Gongwei, Ren Qing, Chen Cheng, Zhu Qunyan, Zhou Yijun, Lu Yu, Zhang Yaru, Deng Chunyu, Chen Wei-Hua, Su Jianzhong
Oujiang Laboratory, Zhejiang Lab for Regenerative Medicine, Vision and Brain Health, Eye Hospital, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, China.
Department of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
Nat Microbiol. 2025 May;10(5):1210-1226. doi: 10.1038/s41564-025-01978-w. Epub 2025 Apr 7.
Microbial genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have uncovered numerous host genetic variants associated with gut microbiota. However, links between host genetics, the gut microbiome and specific cellular contexts remain unclear. Here we use a computational framework, scBPS (single-cell Bacteria Polygenic Score), to integrate existing microbial GWAS and single-cell RNA-sequencing profiles of 24 human organs, including the liver, pancreas, lung and intestine, to identify host tissues and cell types relevant to gut microbes. Analysing 207 microbial taxa and 254 host cell types, scBPS-inferred cellular enrichments confirmed known biology such as dominant communications between gut microbes and the digestive tissue module and liver epithelial cell compartment. scBPS also identified a robust association between Collinsella and the central-veinal hepatocyte subpopulation. We experimentally validated the causal effects of Collinsella on cholesterol metabolism in mice through single-nuclei RNA sequencing on liver tissue to identify relevant cell subpopulations. Mechanistically, oral gavage of Collinsella modulated cholesterol pathway gene expression in central-veinal hepatocytes. We further validated our approach using independent microbial GWAS data, alongside single-cell and bulk transcriptomic analyses, demonstrating its robustness and reproducibility. Together, scBPS enables a systematic mapping of the host-microbe crosstalk by linking cell populations to their interacting gut microbes.
微生物全基因组关联研究(GWAS)已经发现了许多与肠道微生物群相关的宿主遗传变异。然而,宿主遗传学、肠道微生物组和特定细胞环境之间的联系仍不清楚。在这里,我们使用一个计算框架scBPS(单细胞细菌多基因评分),整合现有的微生物GWAS和24个人体器官(包括肝脏、胰腺、肺和肠道)的单细胞RNA测序图谱,以确定与肠道微生物相关的宿主组织和细胞类型。通过分析207种微生物分类群和254种宿主细胞类型,scBPS推断的细胞富集证实了已知的生物学现象,如肠道微生物与消化组织模块和肝上皮细胞区室之间的主要通讯。scBPS还确定了柯林斯菌属与中央静脉肝细胞亚群之间存在强烈关联。我们通过对肝脏组织进行单核RNA测序以确定相关细胞亚群,实验验证了柯林斯菌对小鼠胆固醇代谢的因果效应。从机制上讲,口服柯林斯菌可调节中央静脉肝细胞中胆固醇途径基因的表达。我们使用独立的微生物GWAS数据以及单细胞和批量转录组分析进一步验证了我们的方法,证明了其稳健性和可重复性。总之,scBPS通过将细胞群体与其相互作用的肠道微生物联系起来,实现了宿主-微生物相互作用的系统映射。
Mol Ecol. 2019-6-11
Nat Biotechnol. 2024-9
Microbiome. 2020-4-17
Comput Struct Biotechnol J. 2023-6-30
Cell Host Microbe. 2024-1-10