Metal transporter SLC39A14/ZIP14 modulates regulation between the gut microbiome and host metabolism

Metal transporter SLC39A14/ZIP14 is localized on the basolateral side of the intestine, functioning to transport metals from blood to intestine epithelial cells. Deletion of causes spontaneous intestinal permeability with low-grade chronic inflammation, mild hyperinsulinemia, and greater body fat with insulin resistance in adipose. Importantly, antibiotic treatment reverses the adipocyte phenotype of knockout (KO), suggesting a potential gut microbial role in the metabolic alterations in the KO mice. Here, we investigated the hypothesis that increased intestinal permeability and subsequent metabolic alterations in the absence of could be in part due to alterations in gut microbial composition. Dietary metals have been shown to be involved in the regulation of gut microbial diversity and composition. However, studies linking the action of intestinal metal transporters to gut microbial regulation are lacking. We showed the influence of deletion of metal transporter on gut microbiome composition and how ZIP14-linked changes to gut microbiome community composition are correlated with changes in host metabolism. Deletion of generated Zn-deficient epithelial cells and luminal content in the entire intestinal tract, a shift in gut microbial composition that partially overlapped with changes previously associated with obesity and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), increased the fungi/bacteria ratio in the gut microbiome, altered the host metabolome, and shifted host energy metabolism toward glucose utilization. Collectively, our data suggest a potential predisease microbial susceptibility state dependent on host gene that contributes to intestinal permeability, a common trait of IBD, and metabolic disorders such as obesity and type 2 diabetes. Metal dyshomeostasis, intestinal permeability, and gut dysbiosis are emerging signatures of chronic disorders, including inflammatory bowel diseases, type-2 diabetes, and obesity. Studies in reciprocal regulations between host intestinal metal transporters genes and gut microbiome are scarce. Our research revealed a potential predisease microbial susceptibility state dependent on the host metal transporter gene, Slc39a14/Zip14, that contributes to intestinal permeability providing new insight into understanding host metal transporter gene-microbiome interactions in developing chronic disease.