ArticleNature communications2025
Diet-derived urolithin A is produced by a dehydroxylase encoded by human gut Enterocloster species.
Article in Nature communications, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers.
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Who cites it
23 citing papers in PubMed.
- Chestnut-quebracho tannins shape the fecal metabolome of weaned pigs through microbiota-dependent urolithin production.Journal of animal science and biotechnology · 2026Article
- How Gut Microbes Transform Dietary Phytonutrients: Enzymatic Pathways and Human Metabolite Exposure.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- The microbiome-mitochondria axis: the context-dependent role of urolithin A in aging and cancer via mitophagy.Molecular biology reports · 2026Review
- Urolithin A Exerts Neuroprotective Effects Against Ischemic Stroke by Inhibiting Oxidative Stress and Neuroinflammation.CNS neuroscience & therapeutics · 2026Article
- Gut Microbial Metabotypes Shape Polyphenol Bioactivity: Toward Precision Nutrition Strategies for Human Health.Nutrients · 2026Review
- Health Benefits and Molecular Mechanisms of Urolithin A: From a Gut Microbiota-Derived Metabolite to Translational Applications.Food science & nutrition · 2026Review
- Antioxidants in Plant-Based Food Matrices: From Structure-Activity and Degradation Kinetics to Formulation Design.Comprehensive reviews in food science and food safety · 2026Review
- Probiotic intervention mitigates radiation-induced intestinal injury by alleviating oxidative stress in a human gut-on-a-chip.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Altitude-Associated Divergence of the Gut Microbiome in Endangered Forest Musk Deer: Evidence From Integrated Metagenomics, Metabolomics, and Culturomics.Evolutionary applications · 2026Article
- Urolithin A-Enhanced Multi-Bioactive Formulation Mitigates Cyclophosphamide-Induced Premature Ovarian Failure Through Suppression of Oxidative-Inflammatory Stress and Preservation of Follicle Fate.Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Urolithin A blocks colorectal cancer progression by AKT1 inhibition-driven immune activation.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Shaping death: how the microbiome regulates tumour cell demise and therapy response.Cancer metastasis reviews · 2026Review
- Article
- Toward a gut-AMPK axis: the microbiome and AMPK signaling in nutrition and healthy aging.Frontiers in physiology · 2026Review
- Urolithins in clinical translation: from gut microbial metabolites to precision interventions.Frontiers in nutrition · 2026Review
- Distinct classes of gut bacterial molybdenum-dependent enzymes produce urolithins.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025Article
- The presence and induction of regioselective dehydroxylases dictate urolithin metabolism by Enterocloster species.NPJ biofilms and microbiomes · 2025Article
- Unlocking the Therapeutic Potential of Ellagitannins: A Comprehensive Review of Key Representatives.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- The gut microbiome as a target in cancer immunotherapy: opportunities and challenges for drug development.Nature reviews. Drug discovery · 2025Review
- The role of gut microbial metabolites in the T cell lifecycle.Nature immunology · 2025Review
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Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Urolithin A (uroA) is a polyphenol derived from the multi-step metabolism of dietary ellagitannins by the human gut microbiota. Once absorbed, uroA can trigger mitophagy and aryl hydrocarbon receptor signaling pathways, altering host immune function, mitochondrial health, and intestinal barrier integrity. Most individuals harbor a microbiota capable of uroA production; however, the mechanisms underlying the dehydroxylation of its catechol-containing precursor (uroC) are unknown. Here, we use a combination of untargeted bacterial transcriptomics, proteomics, and comparative genomics to uncover an inducible uroC dehydroxylase (ucd) operon in Enterocloster species. We show that the ucd operon encodes a predicted molybdopterin-dependent enzyme complex that dehydroxylates urolithins at a specific position (9-OH). By interrogating publicly available metagenomics datasets, we observed that uroC-metabolizing Enterocloster species and ucd operon genes are prevalent in human feces. In ex vivo experiments with human fecal samples, only samples actively transcribing ucd could produce uroA, possibly explaining differences in urolithin metabolism between individuals. Collectively, this work identifies Enterocloster species and the ucd operon as important contributors to uroA production and establishes a multi-omics framework to further our mechanistic understanding of polyphenol metabolism by the human gut microbiota.
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