Uncovering the Carboxylated Metabolome in Gut Microbiota-Host Co-metabolism: A Chemical Derivatization-Molecular Networking Approach

Anal Chem. 2023 Aug 1;95(30):11550-11557. doi: 10.1021/acs.analchem.3c02353. Epub 2023 Jul 20.

Abstract

Gut microbiota-host co-metabolites serve as essential mediators of communication between the host and gut microbiota. They provide nutrient sources for host cells and regulate gut microenvironment, which are associated with a variety of diseases. Analysis of gut microbiota-host co-metabolites is of great significance to explore the host-gut microbiota interaction. In this study, we integrated chemical derivatization, liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry, and molecular networking (MN) to establish a novel CD-MN strategy for the analysis of carboxylated metabolites in gut microbial-host co-metabolism. Using this strategy, 261 carboxylated metabolites from mouse feces were detected, which grouped to various classes including fatty acids, bile acids, N-acyl amino acids, benzoheterocyclic acids, aromatic acids, and other unknown small-scale molecular clusters in MN. Based on the interpretation of the bile acid cluster, a novel type of phenylacetylated conjugates of host bile acids was identified, which were mediated by gut microbiota and exhibited a strong binding ability to Farnesoid X receptor and Takeda G protein-coupled receptor 5. Our proposed strategy offers a promising platform for uncovering carboxylated metabolites in gut microbial-host co-metabolism.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Amino Acids / analysis
  • Animals
  • Bile Acids and Salts / analysis
  • Feces / chemistry
  • Gastrointestinal Microbiome* / physiology
  • Mass Spectrometry / methods
  • Metabolome
  • Mice

Substances

  • Amino Acids
  • Bile Acids and Salts