RESUMEN
Chickens have been used as a valuable and traditional model for studies on basic immunology. B lymphocytes were first identified in the bursa of Fabricius (BF) of broilers. The microbiota is important for immune system development and function. However, the effect of the microbiota on mediating B cell development and its regulatory mechanism is poorly elucidated. Here, we show that the gut microbiota is associated with the development of bursal B cells in young chickens. Changing patterns of both the alpha diversity and the expression of the B cell marker Bu-1α in the gut microbiota were related to the ages of chickens at different growth phases. Further correlation analysis revealed the marked correlation between the relative abundances of Intestinimonas, Bilophila, Parasutterella, Bacteroides, Helicobacter, Campylobacter, and Mucispirillum and the expression of Bu-1α. In antibiotic-treated chickens, BF and B cell development had aberrations as the relative abundance of the microbiota in early life decreased. These findings were consistent with Spearman's correlation results. Single-cell transcriptome analysis indicated that the heterogeneity in the cellular composition and developmental trajectory of bursal B cells from antibiotic-treated chickens was large. We found a novel subpopulation of unnamed B cells and identified Taf1 as a new pivotal regulator of B cell lineage differentiation. Therefore, we provide novel insights into the regulatory role of the gut microbiota in B cell development in early life and the maturation of host humoral immunity. IMPORTANCE In this study, we used young broilers to investigate the relationship between their gut microbiota and bursal B cell development. We characterized the important variables, microbes, B cells, and immunoglobulins during the posthatch development of birds. We also identified several candidate taxa in the cecal contents associated with B cells. Our study provides a rich resource and cell-cell cross talk model supporting B cell differentiation from the bursa in vitro at single-cell resolution. Furthermore, we determined a new pivotal regulator (Taf1) of B cell differentiation. We believe that our study makes a significant contribution to the literature because our findings may elucidate the role of the gut microbiota in B cell differentiation. This study also serves as a basis for developing new strategies that modulate B cell differentiation to prevent diseases.
RESUMEN
Methionine (Met) is an essential and multifunctional nutrient in vertebrate diets. It is a precursor of S-adenosylmethionine (SAM), the methyl donor for DNA methylation, which has an important role in the inflammatory responses. However, whether Met exerts anti-inflammatory effects by altering DNA methylation in macrophages is unclear. In this study, Met was found to diminish the activation of the mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling pathway; decrease the production of tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin-6, and interferon-ß; and enhance the levels of intracellular SAM after lipopolysaccharide (LPS) treatment in macrophages. Similarly, SAM inhibited the LPS-induced inflammatory response, consistent with the result of Met treatment. Met-treated macrophages displayed increased global DNA methylation. The DNA methyltransferase inhibitor 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine partially blocked the anti-inflammatory effects of Met in macrophages, suggesting a mechanism involving DNA methylation. Collectively, the results indicated that Met inhibits the LPS-induced inflammatory response by altering DNA methylation in RAW 264.7 macrophages. The findings provide new insights into the interplay between nutrition and immunology, and highlight the regulatory effects of amino acids on the host immune system.