Presenter: Dana Zaidan – Neuroscience
Faculty Mentor(s): Joseph Bruckner, Judith Eisen
Session: (In-Person) Poster Presentation
The gut microbiota has been linked to human health and development. We found that the gut microbiota is required for normal zebrafish social behavior, but how it influences the brain development required for social behavior is not well understood. We previously identified a population of zebrafish forebrain neurons that are also required for normal social behavior. By raising zebrafish “germ-free”, we found that the microbiota is required for normal forebrain neuronal arborization.
Microglia are brain-resident immune cells that remodel neurons and are excellent candidates for mediating interactions between the microbiota and the brain. We previously discovered that the microbiota promotes forebrain microglial abundance. We also found that neuronal arborization and microglial abundance are restored in germ-free fish after colonization with several different zebrafish-associated bacterial strains, suggesting that the microbiota might influence social neurodevelopment by a mechanism common to many bacteria. One pathway we explored involves a class of host proteins that receive bacterial signals called the Toll-like receptor (TLR) proteins. We also explored if and how proteins present in bacterial cell walls are sensed by host mechanisms in the brain. Identifying the signaling components that link the microbiota and brain development will clarify our understanding of how host-microbe interactions can influence human health.