# W-Health: Tungsten is an Essential Metal for a Healthy Gut Microbiome

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA · 2020 · $498,770

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
The NIH Human Microbiome Project (HMP) revolutionized our perspective on human-microbe interactions
and provided a tremendous impetus for research in order to obtain a much deeper understanding of how
microbes impact human health. The gut microorganisms of the HMP Reference Genomes and the Human
Gastrointestinal Bacteria Culture Collection contain 961 species representing 142 genera. Yet, relatively
little is known about these microorganisms. Herein we will test the hypothesis that tungsten (W), a metal
almost never considered in biological systems, is essential for the health of the human gut microbiome. Our
bioinformatics analyses reveal that a large number of these gut microbes contain genes encoding diverse
members of the W-containing oxidoreductase (WOR) family of enzymes. Only a very few WOR enzymes
have been previously characterized, mainly from exotic thermophilic microbes. The overall goal of the
proposed research is to show that other members of the WOR family have essential functions in the gut
microbiome. In preliminary studies, we have shown that some gut microbes take up trace amounts of W and
their W-containing WORs remove reactive and potentially toxic aldehydes found in the gut, which are
generated from cooked foods and microbiome metabolism. Other W-containing WORs are proposed to
catalyze other as yet unknown reactions. In the proposed research we will purify ten novel phylogenetically
distinct WORs by W-monitored (using ICP-MS) anaerobic chromatography. Their catalytic activities and
physiological substrates will be determined by an enzyme-induced metabolomics approach (using LC-MS).
In addition, we propose that some of these WORs are electron bifurcating enzymes that simultaneously
couple exergonic and endergonic reactions, a recently discovered mechanism of energy conservation in
biological systems. Kinetic, spectroscopic (using EPR) and structural (using cryoEM) analyses of this subset
of W-enzymes will be used to investigate the nature of the bifurcation reactions. Using genome-based
metabolic reconstructions, the physiological functions of the various WORs will be ascertained and we will
determine the effects of W on the metabolism of the gut microbes, including on their resistance to gut- and
cooking-related aldehydes.
Relevance: It is now clear that, in addition to facilitating digestion, the gut microbiome plays roles in a
surprisingly extensive range of human conditions, including in Parkinson’s, schizophrenia, osteoarthritis and
in cardiovascular and immune-deficiency diseases. The results of the proposed research will provide a
completely new perspective on the primary metabolisms of the key microbes in our gastrointestinal tract and
the proposed essential role of tungsten, a metal that was thought to be seldom used in biological systems.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10121180
- **Project number:** 1R01GM136885-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA
- **Principal Investigator:** Michael W. Adams
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $498,770
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-09-20 → 2024-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10121180

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10121180, W-Health: Tungsten is an Essential Metal for a Healthy Gut Microbiome (1R01GM136885-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10121180. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*