Regulation of Host Chromatin by Bacterial Metabolites

The function of microbiota-specific metabolites expressed by the 100 trillion bacteria resident in the human intestine is poorly understood. However, on a global scale, certain well-defined microbial metabolites have direct effects on host chromatin structure and function. Specifically, this review addresses key concepts of microbial modulation of chromatin by specific nuclear transcription factors (and nuclear receptors), posttranslational modifications of histone, and alteration of histone deacetylases. Overall, we show that virtually every microbial metabolite, whether it is food derived or endogenous to bacterial metabolism, has a significant impact on host physiology that with the current evidence correlates with specific host targets/mechanisms. However, as will be presented, there are numerous gaps in our knowledge of the systems biology of these metabolites, either alone or in concert with other metabolites that coexist in the human intestine.