The importance of the gut-brain axis in maintaining homeostasis has long been appreciated. However,the past 15 yr have seen the emergence of the microbiota (the trillions of microorganisms withinand on our bodies) as one of the key regulators of gut-brain function and has led to the appreciationof the importance of a distinct microbiota-gut-brain axis.This axis […]
THE MICROBIOTA-GUT-BRAIN AXIS Read More »
Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), namely, Crohn’s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC), are lifelong and incurable chronic inflammatory diseases affecting6.8 million people worldwide. By 2030, the prevalence of IBD is estimated to reach 1%of the population in Western countries, and thus there is an urgent need to developeffective therapies to reduce the burden of this
Food as Treatment of Inflammatory Bowel Diseases Read More »
The substantially increased prevalence of obesity and obesity-relateddiseases has generated considerable concern. Currently, synthetic biological strategieshave played an essential role in preventing and treating chronic diseases such as obesity.A growing number of symbiotic bacteria used as vectors for genetic engineering havebeen applied to create living therapeutics. In this study, using Bacillus subtilis as a cellularchassis,
Neurodegenerative protein conformational diseases are characterized by misfolding and aggregation of metastable proteins encoded within the host genome. The host is also home to thousands of proteins encoded within exogenous genomes harbored by bacteria, fungi, and viruses. Yet, their contributions to host protein-folding homeostasis, or proteostasis, remain elusive. Recent studies, including our previous work, suggest
Bacteria-Derived Protein Aggregates Contribute to the Disruption of Host Proteostasis Read More »
Short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) produced by the gut microbiota have previously been demonstrated to play a role in numerous chronic inflammatory diseases and to be key mediators in the gut-bone signaling axis. However, the role of SCFAs in bone fracture healing and its impact on systemic inflammation during the regeneration process has not been extensively
Many studies have focused on the metabolic capacity of human gut microbiota to produce short-chain fatty acids and subsequent effects on host physiology. Given scarce data on how SCFAs produced by gut bacteria participate in cross-feeding to influence community structure and function, we evaluated the potential of SCFAs to modulate human gut microbiota in vitro.
We are grateful for the comment on our study.1 We are pleased to know that short chain fatty acids (SCFA), especially butyrate, in the intestine could stimulate the colonization of curli-producing Escherichia coli (E. coli). Curli are functional amyloids produced by gut microbes and act as cross-beta-sheet amyloid polymers to assist bacterial cells in binding to
Age-dependent protein-conformational diseases (PCDs), such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD), Parkinson’s disease (PD), or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), are characterized by misfolding and aggregation of metastable proteins present within the proteome of the affected individual. Recent evidence supports the notion that bacteria and bacterial products may be affecting the stability of these culprit host proteins and
Current pharmacological treatments for Parkinson’s disease (PD) provide relief for motorsymptoms but fail to alleviate prevalent non-motor symptoms (NMS)- such as gastrointestinal(GI) dysfunction which often occurs before the development of motor symptoms. Strategies toslow the progression of PD have been proposed, but so far none has proven successful. PDpatients display changes in gut microbiome composition
Recent discoveries have implicated the gut microbiome in the progression and severity of Parkinson’s disease; however, how gut bacteria affect such neurodegenerative disorders remains unclear. Here, we report that the Bacillus subtilis probiotic strain PXN21 inhibits a-synuclein aggregation and clears preformed aggregates in an established Caenorhabditis elegans model of synucleinopathy. This protection is seen in
Probiotic Bacillus subtilis
Protects against a-Synuclein
Aggregation in C. elegans Read More »