The DOI matches its Crossref record; 241 of the 244 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Targeting the human gut microbiome with small-molecule inhibitors
Abstract
The human gut microbiome is a complex microbial community that is strongly linked to both host health and disease. However, the detailed molecular mechanisms underlying the effects of these microorganisms on host biology remain largely uncharacterized. The development of non-lethal, small-molecule inhibitors that target specific gut microbial activities enables a powerful but underutilized approach to studying the gut microbiome and a promising therapeutic strategy. In this Review, we will discuss the challenges of studying this microbial community, the historic use of small-molecule inhibitors in microbial ecology, and recent applications of this strategy. We also discuss the evidence suggesting that host-targeted drugs can affect the growth and metabolism of gut microbes. Finally, we address the issues of developing and implementing microbiome-targeted small-molecule inhibitors and define important future directions for this research.
Overview
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
In the citing paper
“On the other hand, it is difficult to predict and control the outcomes of microbiome manipulation by prebiotics, as they affect the growth and activities of multiple microbial species.728,741”
From Microbiota–gut–brain axis and its therapeutic applications in neurodegenerative diseases (2024) · cites this paper as [741]
Citations
Cites
1 retracted
Lagier, J.-C., Khelaifia, S., Alou, M. T., Ndongo, S., Dione, N., Hugon, P., Caputo, A., Cadoret, F., Traore, S. I., Seck, E. H., et al. (2016) · Nature Microbiology · doi:10.1038/nmicrobiol.2016.203 · Cited by 951
RetractedHighly accurate protein structure prediction with AlphaFold
Jumper, J., Evans, R., Pritzel, A., Green, T., Figurnov, M., Ronneberger, O., Tunyasuvunakool, K., Bates, R., Žídek, A., Potapenko, A., et al. (2021) · Nature · doi:10.1038/s41586-021-03819-2 · Cited by 43,764
Structure, function and diversity of the healthy human microbiome
The Human Microbiome Project Consortium (2012) · Nature · doi:10.1038/nature11234 · Cited by 11,726
Dietary Modulation of the Human Colonic Microbiota: Introducing the Concept of Prebiotics
Gibson, G. R., & Roberfroid, M. B. (1995) · Journal of Nutrition · doi:10.1093/jn/125.6.1401 · Cited by 7,659
Gut flora metabolism of phosphatidylcholine promotes cardiovascular disease
Wang, Z., Klipfell, E., Bennett, B. J., Koeth, R., Levison, B. S., DuGar, B., Feldstein, A. E., Britt, E. B., Fu, X., Chung, Y.-M., et al. (2011) · Nature · doi:10.1038/nature09922 · Cited by 5,597
AFRC, R. F. (1989) · Journal of Applied Bacteriology · doi:10.1111/j.1365-2672.1989.tb05105.x · Cited by 4,831
Interaction between microbiota and immunity in health and disease
Zheng, D., Liwinski, T., & Elinav, E. (2020) · Cell Research · doi:10.1038/s41422-020-0332-7 · Cited by 3,947
Current understanding of the human microbiome
Gilbert, J. A., Blaser, M. J., Caporaso, J. G., Jansson, J. K., Lynch, S. V., & Knight, R. (2018) · Nature Medicine · doi:10.1038/nm.4517 · Cited by 2,609
Population-level analysis of gut microbiome variation
Falony, G., Joossens, M., Vieira-Silva, S., Wang, J., Darzi, Y., Faust, K., Kurilshikov, A., Bonder, M. J., Valles-Colomer, M., Vandeputte, D., et al. (2016) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.aad3503 · Cited by 2,400
Topoisomerase I inhibitors: camptothecins and beyond
Pommier, Y. G. (2006) · Nature reviews. Cancer · doi:10.1038/nrc1977 · Cited by 2,362
Research works printed but not linked: 2
- Hansen, R. Bifidobacteria have come to Denmark to stay. N. Eur. Dairy. J. 51, 79–83 (1985).
- Nishizawa, Y. Physiological activity of bifidobacteria. Shonika Shinryo 23, 1213–1218 (1960).
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Microbiota–gut–brain axis and its therapeutic applications in neurodegenerative diseases
Loh, J. S., Mak, W. Q., Tan, L. K. S., Ng, C. X., Chan, H. H., Yeow, S. H., Foo, J. B., Ong, Y. S., How, C. W., & Khaw, K. Y. (2024) · Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy · doi:10.1038/s41392-024-01743-1 · Cited by 1,193
Another renaissance for bile acid gastrointestinal microbiology
Ridlon, J. M., & Gaskins, H. R. (2024) · Nature Reviews Gastroenterology & Hepatology · doi:10.1038/s41575-024-00896-2 · Cited by 205
Qi, Q., Zhang, H., Jin, Z., Wang, C., Xia, M., Chen, B., Lv, B., Diaz, L. P., Li, X., Feng, R., et al. (2024) · Nature Metabolism · doi:10.1038/s42255-024-01068-x · Cited by 129
Horizon scanning the application of probiotics for wildlife
Garcías-Bonet, N., Roik, A., Tierney, B. T., García, F. C., Villela, H., Dungan, A. M., Quigley, K. M., Sweet, M. J., Berg, G., Gram, L., et al. (2023) · Trends in Microbiology · doi:10.1016/j.tim.2023.08.012 · Cited by 81
Pharmacomicrobiomics: The Role of the Gut Microbiome in Immunomodulation and Cancer Therapy
Bolte, L. A., Björk, J. R., Gaćeša, R., & Weersma, R. K. (2025) · Gastroenterology · doi:10.1053/j.gastro.2025.04.025 · Cited by 39
Metadata
- Authors
- Woo, A. Y. M., Aguilar Ramos, M. A., Narayan, R., Richards-Corke, K. C., Wang, M. L., Sandoval-Espinola, W. J., & Balskus, E. P.
- Affiliations
- Harvard University (US)
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute (US)
- Corresponding author
- Balskus, Emily P.
- ORCID
- Venue
- Nature Reviews Chemistry
- Published
- 2023-04-18
- Volume
- 7
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 319-339
- ISSN
- 2397-3358 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W4366277385
- Cited by
- 42
- References
- 244
- Citations by year
- 2026: 11 · 2025: 12 · 2024: 17 · 2023: 2
- FWCI
- 1.11
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Update notices
- correction (2023-06-13)
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- Locations
- Nature Reviews Chemistry (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Gut microbiota and health
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Food Science › Probiotics and Fermented Foods
- Life Sciences › Immunology and Microbiology › Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology › Microbial Natural Products and Biosynthesis
- Keywords
- gut microbiota, small molecule inhibitors, microbiota-based therapy, microbial metabolism, microbial ecology, drug design
- MeSH terms
- Gastrointestinal Microbiome, Humans, Microbiota
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
