Gut microbiota shapes social dominance through modulating HDAC2 in the medial prefrontal cortex

作者：Wang, Tian; Xu, Jinchun; Xu, Yi^*; Xiao, Jie; Bi, Nanxi; Gu, Xiaozhen; Wang, Hui-Li^*

来源：Cell Reports, 2022, 38(10): 110478.

DOI：10.1016/j.celrep.2022.110478

• BRAIN
• BUTYRATE
• MECHANISMS
• RECEPTORS
• PROTECTS
• BEHAVIOR
• DEFEAT

Social dominance is a ubiquitous phenomenon among social animals, including humans. To date, individual attributes leading to dominance (after a contest) remain largely elusive. Here, we report that socially dominant rats can be distinguished from subordinates based on their intestinal microbiota. When dysbiosis is induced, rats are predisposed to a subordinate state, while dysbiotic rats reclaim social dominance following micro biota transplantation. Winning hosts are characterized by core microbes, a majority of which are associated with butyrate production, and the sole colonization of Clostridium butyricum is sufficient to restore dominance. Regarding molecular aspects, a histone deacetylase, HDAC2, is responsive to microbial status and mediates competition outcome; however, this occurs only in a restricted population of cells in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). Furthermore, HDAC2 acts by modulating synaptic activity in mPFC. Together, these findings uncover a link between commensals and host dominance, providing insight into the gut-brain mechanisms underlying dominance determination.

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