Lectin-Seq: A method to profile lectin-microbe interactions in native communities

Abstract

Soluble human lectins are critical components of innate immunity. Genetic models suggest that lectins influence host-resident microbiota, but their specificity for commensal and mutualist species is understudied. Elucidating lectins’ roles in regulating microbiota requires an understanding of which microbial species they bind within native communities. To profile human lectin recognition, we developed Lectin-Seq. We apply Lectin-Seq to human fecal microbiota using the soluble mannose-binding lectin (MBL) and intelectin-1 (hItln1). Although each lectin binds a substantial percentage of the samples (10 to 20%), the microbial interactomes of MBL and hItln1 differ markedly in composition and diversity. MBL binding is highly selective for a small subset of species commonly associated with humans. In contrast, hItln1’s interaction profile encompasses a broad range of lower-abundance species. Our data uncover stark differences in the commensal recognition properties of human lectins.

Multivalent DNA-encoded lectins on phage enable detecting compositional glycocalyx differences

“…Coupling of glycocalyx analysis and NGS opens new dimensions in biology. For example, Kiessling and co-workers elegantly coupled NGS to FACS of the microbiome using fluorescently labeled lectins to unveil previously unknown population dynamics in microbial communities 69 . Our manuscript shows multiple examples of LiLA-FACS pipeline analyzing the glycocalyx of live cells in complex environments, in heterogeneous cell populations, and in vivo .…”