L11 Microbiome-based Therapeutics Flashcards
Possible reasons for reduced gut microbiota diversity
- Fibre-deficient diets
- Antibiotic use
What effect does FMT have on the microbiome?
- Provides colonisation resistance
- Production of beneficial metabolites (SCFAs & secondary bile acids)
- Restoration of cross-talk with mucosal immune system
FMT clinical indication
C. diff colitis
First FDA approved FMT for recurrent CDI
Rebyota
5 major phyla that constitute the gut microbiota
- Bacteroidetes
- Firmicutes
- Verrucomicrobia
- Actinobacteria
- Proteobacteria
What increases Firmicutes abundance in gut?
Plant-based diet
Examples of Firmicutes
Lactobacillales, Clostridiales
What are Bacteroidetes mainly known for?
Their ability to catabolise complex polysaccharides (25% of their genome encodes PUL)
Preclinical evidence suggests enhanced responses to immune checkpoint inhibitors when co-administered with __
A. muciniphila
__ stimulates Tregs in the colon
Bifidobacterium breve
Increase in __ is a sign of dysbiosis
Proteobacteria
Microbiome therapeutics
- Probiotic
- Prebiotic
- Synbiotic
4 categories of microbiome-based therapeutics (alternatives to FMT)
- Diet & prebiotics
- Symbiotic-microbial consortia
- Engineered symbiotic bacteria
- Microbiota-derived proteins & metabolites
Examples of symbiotic-microbial consortia
- Consortium of 4 bacterial strains, incl. Clostridium scindens (can convert 1º bile acids to 2º bile acids) - enhanced resistance to C. diff colitis in mice
- Consortia that include propionate-producing Bacteroides species provide colonisation resistance against S. typhimurium
Examples of engineered symbiotic bacteria
- Engineered to express PUL (provides a selective advantage over other resident bacteria)
- Genes derived from C. scindens have been heterologously expressed in C. sporogenes, enabling the recombinant bacteria to synthesise deoxycholic acid & lithocholic acid
- CRISPR-Cas9 can be used to delete pathogenic metabolites from bacterial species