Gut dopamine kick: How gut microbes turn on host receptors to fight pathogens

Eran Gutman; Yael Litvak

doi:10.1016/j.chom.2024.04.011

Gut dopamine kick: How gut microbes turn on host receptors to fight pathogens

Cell Host Microbe. 2024 May 8;32(5):623-624. doi: 10.1016/j.chom.2024.04.011.

Authors

Eran Gutman¹, Yael Litvak²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biological Chemistry, The Alexander Silberman Institute of Life Sciences, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Edmond J. Safra Campus, Givat-Ram, Jerusalem 9190401, Israel.
² Department of Biological Chemistry, The Alexander Silberman Institute of Life Sciences, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Edmond J. Safra Campus, Givat-Ram, Jerusalem 9190401, Israel. Electronic address: yael.litvak@mail.huji.ac.il.

PMID: 38723597
DOI: 10.1016/j.chom.2024.04.011

Abstract

Common nutrients in our diet often affect our health through unexpected mechanisms. In a recent issue of Nature, Scott et al. show gut microbes convert dietary tryptophan into metabolites activating intestinal dopamine receptors, which can block attachment of bacterial pathogens to host cells.

MeSH terms

Animals
Bacteria / metabolism
Bacterial Adhesion
Dopamine* / metabolism
Gastrointestinal Microbiome* / physiology
Gastrointestinal Tract / metabolism
Gastrointestinal Tract / microbiology
Host-Pathogen Interactions
Humans
Receptors, Dopamine / metabolism
Tryptophan / metabolism

Substances

Dopamine
Receptors, Dopamine
Tryptophan