Due to the recent rapid expansion in our understanding of the composition of the gut microflora and the consequences of altering that composition the question of how bacteria colonise mucus layers and interact with components of mucus, such as mucin, is now receiving widespread attention. Using a combination of mucus secreting cells, and a novel mucin microarray platform containing purified native mucins from different sources we recently demonstrated that two gastrointestinal pathogens, Helicobacter pylori and Campylobacter jejuni, colonise mucus by different mechanisms. This result emphasizes the potential for even closely related bacteria to interact with mucus in divergent ways to establish successful infection. Expanding the use of the mucin arrays described in the study to other microorganisms, both pathogenic and commensal, should lead to the discovery of biologically important motifs in bacterial-host interactions and complement the use of novel in vitro cell models, such as mucus secreting cell lines.
IntroductionMucosal surfaces serve as a portal of entry for the majority of infections that occur in humans and animals. All mucosal surfaces are covered in a layer of mucus. In the gastrointestinal tract this mucus is colonised by tens of trillions of commensal organisms, essential for the development and health of the host. Mucus in the murine colon and the stomach has been shown to consist of an inner closely adherent mucus layer and an outer less dense, loosely adherent layer.
1,2The small intestine has a single loosely adherent layer.2 In the colon the outer mucus layer is colonised by commensal bacteria while the inner mucus layer is devoid of microbiota.1 The protective function of the inner mucus layer can be disrupted in disease, allowing access of organisms to the underlying epithelium. For example, the mucus layer has been shown to be depleted in animal models of colitis, and also in humans with ulcerative colitis resulting in bacterial penetration of the inner layer.
3A complex, mutually dependent relationship is established between the gut microbiota and the human host from birth which persists throughout life. 4 Initial cross talk between the host and gut microbiota influences postnatal intestinal epithelial differentiation by altering gene expression and improves immune tolerance.
5-7The microbiota also provides other benefits to the host including priming of the immune system and protection of the mucosal surface by competing with invading pathogens for space, nutrients, and binding receptors. Recent advances in sequencing technology and metagenomics have revealed changes in the microbial population of the gut in both health and disease. Strikingly, these studies have shown that alterations in the composition of the gut microflora, sometimes referred to as dysbiosis, are associated with a number of chronic diseases including obesity, diabetes and inflammatory disease.
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Interaction of microbes with mucus and mucins
Recent developmentsJulie Naughton, 1,2 Gina Duggan, 1, 2 Billy Bourke, 1,...