The impact of chemerin or chemokine-like receptor 1 loss on the mouse gut microbiome

Helen J. Dranse, Ashlee Zheng, André M. Comeau, Morgan G.I. Langille, Brian A. Zabel, Christopher J. Sinal

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

11 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Chemerin is an adipocyte derived signalling molecule (adipokine) that serves as a ligand activator of Chemokine-like receptor 1(CMKLR1). Chemerin/CMKLR1 signalling is well established to regulate fundamental processes in metabolism and inflammation. The composition and function of gut microbiota has also been shown to impact the development of metabolic and inflammatory diseases such as obesity, diabetes and inflammatory bowel disease. In this study, we assessed the microbiome composition of fecal samples isolated from wildtype, chemerin, or CMKLR1 knockout mice using Illumina-based sequencing. Moreover, the knockout mice and respective wildtype mice used in this study were housed at different universities allowing us to compare facility-dependent effects on microbiome composition. While there was no difference in alpha diversity within samples when compared by either facility or genotype, we observed a dramatic difference in the presence and abundance of numerous taxa between facilities. There were minor differences in bacterial abundance between wildtype and chemerin knockout mice, but significantly more differences in taxa abundance between wildtype and CMKLR1 knockout mice. Specifically, CMKLR1 knockout mice exhibited decreased abundance of Akkermansia and Prevotella, which correlated with body weight in CMKLR1 knockout, but not wildtype mice. This is the first study to investigate a linkage between chemerin/CMKLR1 signaling and microbiome composition. The results of our study suggest that chemerin/CMKLR1 signaling influences metabolic processes through effects on the gut microbiome. Furthermore, the dramatic difference in microbiome composition between facilities might contribute to discrepancies in the metabolic phenotype of CMKLR1 knockout mice reported by independent groups. Considered altogether, these findings establish a foundation for future studies to investigate the relationship between chemerin signaling and the gut microbiome on the development and progression of metabolic and inflammatory disease.

Original languageEnglish
Article numbere5494
JournalPeerJ
Volume2018
Issue number9
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2018

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The following grant information was disclosed by the authors: Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CJS). United States National Institutes of Health: R01AI-079320.

Funding Information:
This work was supported by a grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CJS) and United States National Institutes of Health grant R01AI-079320 (BAZ). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

Publisher Copyright:
Copyright 2018 Dranse et al.

ASJC Scopus Subject Areas

  • General Neuroscience
  • General Biochemistry,Genetics and Molecular Biology
  • General Agricultural and Biological Sciences

PubMed: MeSH publication types

  • Journal Article

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'The impact of chemerin or chemokine-like receptor 1 loss on the mouse gut microbiome'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this