Clade-specific extracellular vesicles from Akkermansia muciniphila mediate competitive colonization via direct inhibition and immune stimulation.

ABSTRACT: Akkermansia muciniphila, a promising candidate for next-generation probiotics, exhibits significant genomic diversity, classified into several distinct clades (AmI to AmIV). Notably, a single Akkermansia clade tends to predominate within individual hosts, with co-occurrence of different clades being rare. The mechanisms driving such clade-specific exclusion remain unclear. Here, we show that extracellular vesicles (EVs) derived from AmII clade inhibit the growth of clade I (AmI), conferring a competitive advantage to AmII. Moreover, we observe clade-specific immunoglobulin A (IgA) responses, where AmII clade-specific IgAs, induced by EVs from AmII, facilitate niche occupancy and competitive exclusion of AmI. These findings provide insights into the competitive dynamics of A. muciniphila cl

SUBMITTER: Hong MG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11923206 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature