Angiogenin maintains gut microbe homeostasis by balancing α-Proteobacteria and Lachnospiraceae.

OBJECTIVE: Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) play essential roles in maintaining gut health and are associated with IBD. This study is to elucidate the effect of angiogenin (ANG), an intestine-secreted AMP, on gut microbiota and its relevance with IBD.
DESIGN: The effect of ANG on microbiota and its contribution to colitis were evaluated in different colitis models with co-housing and faecal microbiota transplantation. ANG-regulated bacteria were determined by 16S rDNA sequencing and their functions in colitis were analysed by bacterial colonisation. The species-specific antimicrobial activity of ANG and its underlying mechanism were further investigated with microbiological and biochemical methods. ANG level and the key bacteria were characterised in IBD faecal samples.
RESULTS: ANG regulated microbiota composition and inhibited intestinal inflammation. Specifically, Ang1 deficiency in mice led to a decrease in the protective gut commensal strains of Lachnospiraceae but an increase in the colitogenic strains of α-Proteobacteria. Direct binding of ANG to α-Proteobacteria resulted in lethal disruption of bacterial membrane integrity, and consequently promoted the growth of Lachnospiraceae, which otherwise was antagonised by α-Proteobacteria. Oral administration of ANG1 reversed the dysbiosis and attenuated the severity of colitis in Ang1-deficient mice. The correlation among ANG, the identified bacteria and IBD status was established in patients.
CONCLUSION: These findings demonstrate a novel role of ANG in shaping gut microbe composition and thus maintaining gut health, suggesting that the ANG-microbiota axis could be developed as a potential preventive and/or therapeutic approach for dysbiosis-related gut diseases. © Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2021. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.