On 20th June 2018, Loo Wee Chia will publicly defend her PhD thesis investigating the cross-feeding interactions of gut symbionts driven by human milk oligosaccharides (HMOS) and mucins.
Human milk oligosaccharides and mucins shape the gut microbiota in early life.
Microbes colonising the infant gut mucosa are particularly critical to prime mucosal immune response and tolerance. At this period, infant nutrition plays a crucial role in steering the establishment of the gut microbiota.
Human host-secreted glycans such as HMOS and mucins are important drivers for the composition and functionality of the gut microbiota. Due to the complex chemical nature of milk and mucin glycans, only some gut bacteria with refined capability can utilise it as growth substrates. These glycan-degrading bacteria subsequently drive the microbial network via cross-feeding. In essence, the glycan-degrading bacteria produce metabolic products or nutrients to sustain the growth and metabolism of the bacterial community in the vicinity. The resulting glycan-enriched subpopulation could influence the physiological development of infants and confer colonisation resistance throughout life.
Bacterial cross-feeding leads to butyrate production
This thesis unravels the interaction of gut symbionts in the presence of HMOS or host-derived mucins. More specifically, Loo Wee investigated the interaction between two groups of bacteria that are predicted to cross-feed i.e. glycan-degraders (including bifidobacteria and Akkermansia muciniphila) and butyrate-producing Clostridia, which have been implicated to be important in priming the development of immune system.
Cross-feeding between these two bacterial groups leads to the production of butyrate from the breakdown of glycan structures. Butyrate is shown to be important for gut integrity and gut health. Gut maturation early in life is an important driver of overall healthy development. The initial HMOS-degrading bacteria provide substrates and create the environment for other important species that will colonise the infant gut after weaning. The gradual increase of the butyrate and the emergence of butyrogenic community in the gut is important for gut maturation, and delayed production could potentially be associated with colicky symptoms and atopic diseases in infants.
Novel nutritional approaches
This thesis provides insights for the design of novel nutritional approaches to modulate the gut microbiota. These include novel probiotic strains that are not used traditionally. Furthermore, the potential of supplementing infant nutrition with novel microbial substrates is highlighted to further close the compositional gap between human milk and infant formula.
Loo Wee’s promotor is Prof. Dr Jan Knol, Special Professor intestinal microbiology of early Life, Wageningen University & Research and Research Director Gut Biology & Microbiology, Danone Research & Innovation, The Netherlands. Co-promotor is Dr Clara Belzer, Assistant professor, Laboratory of Microbiology, Wageningen University & Research. This research project works in close collaboration with the Human Milk Research team, Danone Research & Innovation lead by Dr Bernd Stahl.
Details PhD Defense:
Date and time: Wednesday, June 20 2018 at 13:30 hrs.
Location: Auditorium, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
Find out more about the PhD Defense here.