IMR Press / FBL / Volume 28 / Issue 8 / DOI: 10.31083/j.fbl2808175
Open Access Original Research
The Protective Role of TLR4 in Intestinal Epithelial Cells through the Regulation of the Gut Microbiota in DSS-Induced Colitis in Mice
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1 Department of Anorectal Surgery, Changhai Hospital, Naval Medical University (Second Military Medical University), 200433 Shanghai, China
2 Department of Anorectal Surgery, Changzheng Hospital, Naval Medical University (Second Military Medical University), 200003 Shanghai, China
3 Department of Radiation Medicine, Faculty of Naval Medicine, Naval Medical University (Second Military Medical University), 200433 Shanghai, China
4 Department of General Surgery, Tongji Hospital, School of Medicine, Tongji University, 200065 Shanghai, China
*Correspondence: victorliu20102020@163.com (Cong Liu); huzhiq163@163.com (Zhi-Qian Hu); wanghaohh@vip.126.com (Hao Wang)
These authors contributed equally.
Front. Biosci. (Landmark Ed) 2023, 28(8), 175; https://doi.org/10.31083/j.fbl2808175
Submitted: 7 January 2023 | Revised: 18 March 2023 | Accepted: 22 March 2023 | Published: 23 August 2023
Copyright: © 2023 The Author(s). Published by IMR Press.
This is an open access article under the CC BY 4.0 license.
Abstract

Background: The cause of ulcerative colitis (UC) is not yet fully understood. Previous research has pointed towards a potential role for mutations in nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain-containing protein 2 (NOD2) in promoting the onset and progression of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) by altering the microbiota of the gut. However, the relationship between toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) and gut microbiota in IBD is not well understood. To shed light on this, the interaction between TLR4 and gut microbiota was studied using a mouse model of IBD. Methods: To examine the function of TLR4 signaling in intestinal injury repair, researchers developed Dextran Sulfate Sodium Salt (DSS)-induced colitis and injury models in both wild-type (WT) mice and TLR4 knockout (TLR4-KO) mice. To assess changes in the gut microbiota, 16S rRNA sequencing was conducted on fecal samples from both the TLR4-KO and WT enteritis mouse models. Results: The data obtained depicted a protective function of TLR4 against DSS-induced colitis. The gut microbiota composition was found to vary considerably between the WT and TLR4-KO mice groups as indicated by β-diversity analysis and operational taxonomic units (OTUs) cluster. Statistical analysis of microbial multivariate variables depicted an elevated abundance of Escherichia coli/Shigella, Gammaproteobacteria, Tenerlcutes, Deferribacteres, Enterobacteria, Rikenellaceae, and Proteobacteria in the gut microbiota of TLR4-KO mice, whereas there was a considerable reduction in Bacteroidetes at five different levels of the phylogenetic hierarchy including phylum, class, order, family, and genus in comparison with the WT control. Conclusions: TLR4 may protect intestinal epithelial cells from damage in response to DSS-induced injury by controlling the microbiota in the gut.

Keywords
16S rRNA sequencing
toll-like receptor 4
gut microbiota
DSS-induced colitis
Funding
2015CB554000/National Key Basic Research Development Program of China
82173005/National Natural Science Foundation of China
81573092/National Natural Science Foundation of China
81872046/National Natural Science Foundation of China
81872559/National Natural Science Foundation of China
17411951100/Shanghai Municipal Science and Technology Commission Research Program
Figures
Fig. 1.
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