The microbial community living within our large intestine is a very thick and complex ecosystem. While some of these germs cause disease and disease (such as bacteria and viruses), others are more friendly to us and help us maintain good health.
Akkermansia muciniphila is one of these friendly bacteria.
Researchers have known for years that Mucinifila is related to good health. One of the important roles that plays in our gut is to maintain the function of our bowel barrier. This protects bad bugs while making sure that we can still absorb the important nutrients from our diet that keep our cells work properly. But when there is an imbalance of Mucinifila In the gut, this can lead to health problems.
This unusual bacterium lives in our large intestine and survives Mucin, a layer of mucus that covers the surface of the colon.
Mucin provides a little but important separation between human cells and microbial cells that call the home of the big intestine. If this layer of mucus is interrupted, germs can enter direct contact with human cells. This can lead to inflammation, as human cells respond to bacteria – potentially leading to the development of the disease, as an inflammatory bowel disease.
Akkermansia muciniphila is a very vanity eater. It only uses glycoproteins (molecules containing protein and carbohydrates) in mucina as a source of energy. But exactly how this bacterium extracted energy from glycoproteins was a mystery until recently. A study conducted by me and my colleagues found that Mucinifila It unfolds a number of different enzymes that work together to unlock the sugar found in mucina.
Using mucin taken from a pig, we analyzed both enzyme cell surface activity along with their genes to find out which enzymes are involved in the destruction of glycoproteins in mucin down.
We found this Mucinifila It uses 66 different enzymes to extract the important energy that glycoproteins needs to do its important work. We are the first group to describe this process.
Important to health
Studies that watch Mucinifila Interaction with the immune system in mice revealed that it soothes the immune system and can prevent the development of obesity and diabetes.
Researchers point out specific peptides (a type of molecule) that secrets that have this effect on the immune system. Due to its friendly nature and soothing effect on the immune system, Akkermansia muciniphila It is even used to develop probiotics.
Researchers have also found that people who have a metabolic disease, such as diabetes or fat liver disease, have less Akkermansia muciniphila in their large intestine. The more lousy and athletic you are, the more Mucinifila You have.
Though Akkermansia muciniphila Only eats mucus, our diet still affects it – though indirectly.
Bacteria inhabiting the colon, such as Mucinifila Use carbohydrates that they extract from fiber -rich foods in our diet as fuel. In return, they produce substances called short -chain fatty acids. These compounds feed the upper layer of human cells into the colon. In fact, 10 percent of our energy comes from this process.
Bacteria live in the colon
Akkermansia muciniphila It also maintains other bacterial species in the microbiome, giving them broken mucus so that they can survive a process known as “cross-eating”. But if we do not eat enough fiber as part of our diet, the muscins become a much more used source of nutrition.
This can lead to the depletion of the mucous layer of the large intestine – ejection of the delicate ecosystem of the microbiome from balance. This increases the likelihood of developing inflammatory diseases. So, although Akkermansia muciniphila It is not a pathogen, it can remove too much mucus under the wrong conditions.
Our study is the first complete example of how mucus is broken by this bacterial appearance. It is important to understand this process as it is key in the way our germs interact with each other – and with us. The enzymes we have described from Akkermansia muciniphila It can now also be used as instruments for analyzing how these complex mucin structures vary in different places of the body and between humans.
The more researchers learn Akkermansia muciniphila And the other germs that live in the colon, the more we understand the importance of eating a variable diet with a high content of fiber.
Lucy Crouch is a research associate at the Institute of Microbiology and Infection, Department for Microbes, Infection and Microbiomes, infection of infection, inflammation and immunology, Medical College and Health at the University of Birmingham.
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