Aims: The molecular cross-talk between commensal bacteria and the gut play an important role in the maintenance of the intestinal homeostasis and general health. Here, we studied the impact of a major Gram-positive anaerobic bacterium of the human gut microbiota, that is, Ruminococcus gnavus on the glycosylation pattern and the production of intestinal mucus by the goblet cells.
Methods and results: Our results showed that R. gnavus E1 specifically increases the expression and the glycosylation level of the intestinal glyco-conjugates by goblet cells in the colonic mucosa of mono-associated mice with R. gnavus E1 as well as in human HT29-MTX cells. Such an effect was mediated through induction of the level of mRNA encoding for the major intestinal gel-forming mucin such as MUC2 and various glycosyltransferase enzymes.
Conclusions: This study demonstrates for the first time that R. gnavus E1 possess the ability to modulate the glycosylation profile of the glyco-conjugate molecules and mucus in goblet cells.
Significance and impact of the study: Furthermore, we demonstrated that R. gnavus E1 modified specifically the glycosylation pattern and MUC2 expression by means of a small soluble factor of peptidic nature (<3 kDa) and heat stable in the HT29-MTX cell.
Keywords: Ruminococcus gnavus; glycosylation; goblet cells; gut microbiota; host-microbiota interactions; intestinal epithelial cells IEC; mucin.
© 2016 The Society for Applied Microbiology.