Evidence and Role for Bacterial Mucin Degradation in Cystic Fibrosis Airway Disease.

ABSTRACT: Chronic lung infections in cystic fibrosis (CF) patients are composed of complex microbial communities that incite persistent inflammation and airway damage. Despite the high density of bacteria that colonize the lower airways, nutrient sources that sustain bacterial growth in vivo, and how those nutrients are derived, are not well characterized. In this study, we examined the possibility that mucins serve as an important carbon reservoir for the CF lung microbiota. While Pseudomonas aeruginosa was unable to efficiently utilize mucins in isolation, we found that anaerobic, mucin-fermenting bacteria could stimulate the robust growth of CF pathogens when provided intact mucins as a sole carbon source. 16S rRNA sequencing and enrichment culturing of sputum also identified that mucin-degrading

SUBMITTER: Flynn JM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4993466 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature