About the Center
The Texas Children's Microbiome Center, part of the Human Microbiome Project Consortium, translates new knowledge about the human microbiome in different areas of medicine by pursuing metagenomic and microbiome research related to the care of women and children.
As part of Human Microbiome Project Consortium and in collaboration with the Bioinformatics Research Laboratory, the Human Genome Sequencing Center and the Alkek Center for Metagenomics and Microbiome Research, it is strategically placed to partner with a variety of departments and centers at Texas Children's Hospital as well. The Microbiome Center provides complete service and support from initial study design and sample collection to final metagenomic analysis.
Currently, faculty in the center are working to characterize the intestinal microbiome and the nature of the core microbiome in healthy children. In addition, they are studying the changes in the metagenome that may be associated with disorders of mucosal inflammation and recurrent abdominal (visceral) pain. The tools for analysis include next-generation DNA sequencing, quantitative PCR and high density microarrays to study shifts in the metagenome and human-associated microbial communities.
Studying Microbial Communities in Children
Humans are host to an array of microbial communities that have adapted to a variety of body sites. The Human Microbiome Project has put forth a significant effort to characterize the composition of these microbial communities in healthy adults.
At the Texas Children’s Microbiome Center, we are comparing microbial communities present in healthy and disease states of children. Identifying key differences in these communities will lead us to translational research that will forge new therapeutic and diagnostic tools.
Luna RA, Foster JA. 2014. Gut brain axis: diet microbiota interactions and implications for modulation of anxiety and depression. Curr Opin Biotechnol; 32C:35-41 [Epub ahead of print]
Hollister EB, Gao C, Versalovic J. 2014. Compositional and functional features of the gastrointestinal microbiome and their effects on human health. Gastroenterology doi:10.1053/j.gastro.2014.01.052
Chumpitazi BP, Hollister EB, Oezguen N, Tsai CM, McMeans A, Luna RA, Savidge TC, Versalovic J, Shulman RJ. 2014. Low fermentable substrate diet in children with irritable bowel syndrome: Pilot efficacy and microbiome relationships. Gut Microbes doi:10.4161/gmic.27923
Lohmann P, Luna RA, Hollister EB, Mistretta T-A, Devaraj S, Versalovic J, Welty S. 2014. The respiratory microbiome of intubated premature infants: Characteristics and changes that predict the development of bronchopulmonary dysplasia. Pediatric Research doi:10.1038/pr/2014.85
Spinler JK, Sontakke A, Hollister EB, Venable SF, Oh PL, Balderas MA, Saulnier DMA, Mistretta TA, Devaraj, S, Walter J, Versalovic J, Highlander S. 2014. From prediction to function using evolutionary genomics: Human-specific ecotypes of Lactobacillus reuteri have diverse probiotic functions. Genome Biology and Evolution doi:10.1093/gbe/evu137
Nagy-Szakal D, Hollister EB, Luna RA, Szigeti R, Tatevian N, Smith CW, Versalovic J, Kellermayer R. 2013. Cellulose supplementation early in life ameliorates acute colitis in adult mice. PLoS One; 8(2):e56685
Riehle K, Coarfa C, Jackson A, Ma J, Tandon A, Paithankar S, Raghuraman S, Mistretta TA, Saulnier D, Raza S, Diaz MA, Shulman R, Aagaard K, Versalovic J, Milosavljevic A. 2012. The Genboree Microbiome Toolset and the analysis of 16S rRNA microbial sequences. BMC Bioinformatics. 13 Suppl 13:S11. doi: 10.1186/1471-2105-13-S13-S11
Saulnier DM, Riehle K, Mistretta TA, Diaz MA, Mandal D, Raza S, Weidler EM, Qin X, Coarfa C, Milosavljevic A, Petrosino JF, Highlander S, Gibbs R, Lynch SV, Shulman RJ, Versalovic J. 2011. Gastrointestinal microbiome signatures of pediatric patients with irritable bowel syndrome. Gastroenterology. 141(5):1782-91. doi: 10.1053/j.gastro.2011.06.072
Next-generation probiotics might join the fight against gut bacterial infections
Clostridium difficile infections are the most common cause of diarrhea associated with the use of antibiotics. If these bacteria attempt to invade the human gut, the ‘good bacteria,’ which outnumber C. difficile, usually prevent them from growing.