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Co-culture of Living Microbiome with Microengineered Human Intestinal Villi in a Gut-on-a-Chip Microfluidic Device
Published on: August 30, 2016
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Dissecting Gut-Microbial Community Interactions using a Gut Microbiome-on-a-Chip.
Jeeyeon Lee1, Nishanth Menon2, Chwee Teck Lim1,2,3
1Institute for Health Innovation and Technology (iHealthtech), National University of Singapore, Singapore, 117599, Singapore.
Advanced Science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany)
|February 28, 2024
Summary
A novel Gut Microbiome-on-a-Chip (GMoC) models the human gut, revealing how beneficial microbes prevent pathogenic bacteria from causing gut damage and promoting tumor growth.
Area of Science:
- Microbiology
- Biotechnology
- Gastroenterology
Background:
- The human gut microbiota significantly influences gut health and disease.
- Current in vitro models lack the ability to accurately replicate the gut environment for studying microbial interactions and their impact on gut health.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a scalable Gut Microbiome-on-a-Chip (GMoC) with advanced imaging capabilities.
- To create a physiologically relevant dynamic gut-microbes interface for studying host-microbe interactions.
Main Methods:
- Developed a GMoC featuring a reproducible 3D stratified gut epithelium (µGut) using Caco-2 cells.
- Incorporated tumorigenic bacteria (enterotoxigenic Bacteroides fragilis - ETBF) and beneficial bacteria (Lactobacillus spp.) into the GMoC.
- Utilized high-resolution imaging to observe microbial interactions and their effects on the gut epithelium.
Main Results:
- The GMoC successfully mimicked key intestinal architecture, functions, and cellular complexity.
- Observed ETBF-induced gut disruption and pro-tumorigenic signaling activation within the µGut model.
- Demonstrated that Lactobacillus spp. pre-treatment prevented ETBF-mediated pathogenesis via colonization resistance.
Conclusions:
- The GMoC is a valuable tool for visualizing causal relationships between gut microbes and gut health.
- This model can be used to explore the roles of gut microbes in pathogenesis and develop microbe-based therapeutics.
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