Project description:The purpose of this study is to determine whether cross feeding relationships can contribute to the alleviation of colitis. The two strains used in this study are Anaerostipes caccae and Bifidobacterium bifidum. Both strains are clearly present in significant amounts in the intestines of healthy humans. A. caccae is a butyrate-producing bacterium that uses lactic acid and acetate to produce butyrate. On the other hand, B. bifidum is known to produce lactic acid and acetate. The purpose of this study is to confirm the effect of the ecological network between the two strains on the improvement of colitis, particularly in terms of protecting intestinal epithelial cells.
Project description:We have developed a microfluidics-based in vitro model of the human gut allowing co-culture of human and microbial cells and subsequent multi-omic assessment of the effect of the co-culture on the host transcriptome. We compare the transcriptional changes induced in the human epithelial cell line, Caco-2 after co-culture with Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG or a consortium of Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG and Bacteroides caccae.
