%0 Generic
%A Lombardo Hernández, Juan
%A Binello, Alberto
%A Rapetta, Ivana
%A Leaño Hinojosa, Ariana
%A Benítez de la Cruz, Javier
%A García Esteban, María Teresa
%A Murciano Cespedosa, Antonio
%A Geuna, Stefano
%A Cocolin, Luca
%A Herrera Rincón, Celia
%T Bioelectric Signals in the Gut-Brain Connection: How Bacteria Influence Neuronal Activity
%D 2025
%U https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/130830
%X Bioelectric signaling-encompassing ion flows, voltage gradients, and electric fields-is fundamental notonly for excitable cells, such as neurons, but also for organism-wide processes such as development,regeneration, and cancer. Recent evidence extends the role of bioelectricity beyond eukaryoticsystems, revealing its importance in bacterial physiology and gut microbiome regulation. While it isclear that bacteria in the gut and neurons in brain communicate (the microbiota-brain-gut-axis), mostof the fundamental questions in this field are wide-open. Crucially, the community and state-of-theart work focuses almost exclusively on molecular (hormone receptors, immune cell signaling, etc.)and not – as we propose to do – on top-down, information-based approaches, which are needed tofully understand the high-level meaning behind the mechanisms.In this study, we investigated the influence of bacteria on neural bioelectric properties by analyzingtranscriptomic responses following short-term direct interactions between neurons and the probioticbacterium Lactiplantibacillus plantarum. We further examined neuronal viability, synaptic plasticity,and bioelectric profiles across different bacterial species, interaction durations, and concentrations,comparing probiotic and opportunistic strains. Our results demonstrate that neurons detect bacterialpresence in the culture medium, triggering significant transcriptomic changes related tobioelectricity, excitability, and synaptic plasticity. These responses are species-specific andmodulated by interaction conditions.Our results suggest that bioelectricity plays a key role in neuron-bacteria interactions, reveling anunderexplored interkingdom communication network. Understanding how the gut microbiomeinfluences neuronal function and identifying bacterial species and conditions that promote beneficialneural effects could open new avenues for targeted interventions and therapeutic strategies fornervous system disorders.
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