Histone butyrylation in the mouse intestine is mediated by the microbiota and associated with regulation of gene expression

Abstract

Post-translational modifications (PTMs) on histones are a key source of regulation on chromatin through impacting cellular processes, including gene expression¹. These PTMs often arise from metabolites and are thus impacted by metabolism and environmental cues^2-7. One class of metabolically regulated PTMs are histone acylations, which include histone acetylation, butyrylation, crotonylation and propionylation^3,8. As these PTMs can be derived from short-chain fatty acids, which are generated by the commensal microbiota in the intestinal lumen^9-11, we aimed to define how microbes impact the host intestinal chromatin landscape, mainly in female mice. Here we show that in addition to acetylation, intestinal epithelial cells from the caecum and distal mouse intestine also harbour high levels of butyrylation and propionylation on lysines 9 and 27 of histone H3. We demonstrate that these acylations are regulated by the microbiota and that histone butyrylation is additionally regulated by the metabolite tributyrin. Tributyrin-regulated gene programmes are correlated with histone butyrylation, which is associated with active gene-regulatory elements and levels of gene expression. Together, our study uncovers a regulatory layer of how the microbiota and metabolites influence the intestinal epithelium through chromatin, demonstrating a physiological setting in which histone acylations are dynamically regulated and associated with gene regulation.