title: Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron and Faecalibacterium prausnitzii influence the production of mucus glycans and the development of goblet cells in the colonic epithelium of a gnotobiotic model rodent.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The intestinal mucus layer plays a key role in the maintenance of host-microbiota homeostasis. To document the crosstalk between the host and microbiota, we used gnotobiotic models to study the influence of two major commensal bacteria, Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron and Faecalibacterium prausnitzii, on this intestinal mucus layer. B. thetaiotaomicron is known to use polysaccharides from mucus, but its effect on goblet cells has not been addressed so far. F. prausnitzii is of particular physiological importance because it can be considered as a sensor and a marker of human health. We determined whether B. thetaiotaomicron affected goblet cell differentiation, mucin synthesis and glycosylation in the colonic epithelium. We then investigated how F. prausnitzii influenced the colonic epithelial responses to B. thetaiotaomicron.
  
  
  RESULTS
  B. thetaiotaomicron, an acetate producer, increased goblet cell differentiation, expression of mucus-related genes and the ratio of sialylated to sulfated mucins in mono-associated rats. B. thetaiotaomicron, therefore, stimulates the secretory lineage, favoring mucus production. When B. thetaiotaomicron was associated with F. prausnitzii, an acetate consumer and a butyrate producer, the effects on goblet cells and mucin glycosylation were diminished. F. prausnitzii, by attenuating the effects of B. thetaiotaomicron on mucus, may help the epithelium to maintain appropriate proportions of different cell types of the secretory lineage. Using a mucus-producing cell line, we showed that acetate up-regulated KLF4, a transcription factor involved in goblet cell differentiation.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  B. thetaiotaomicron and F. prausnitzii, which are metabolically complementary, modulate, in vivo, the intestinal mucus barrier by modifying goblet cells and mucin glycosylation. Our study reveals the importance of the balance between two main commensal bacteria in maintaining colonic epithelial homeostasis via their respective effects on mucus.
authors.affiliation: INRA, UMR 1319 MICALIS, AgroParisTech, Domaine de Vilvert, Jouy-en-Josas, France.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wrzosek
authors.forename: Sylvie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Miquel
authors.forename: Marie-Louise
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Noordine
authors.forename: Stephan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bouet
authors.forename: Marie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Joncquel Chevalier-Curt
authors.forename: Véronique
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Robert
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Philippe
authors.forename: Chantal
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bridonneau
authors.forename: Claire
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cherbuy
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Robbe-Masselot
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Langella
authors.forename: Muriel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Thomas
mesh_terms: D000085:Acetates / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D001439:Bacteroides / Q000502:physiology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D001442:Bacteroides Infections / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D003106:Colon / Q000378:metabolism / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000473:pathology; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D005856:Germ-Free Life; D006031:Glycosylation; D020397:Goblet Cells / Q000378:metabolism / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000473:pathology; D016908:Gram-Positive Bacterial Infections / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology; D019073:HT29 Cells; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D007413:Intestinal Mucosa / Q000378:metabolism / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000473:pathology; D000090062:Kruppel-Like Factor 4; D009093:Mucus / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000382:microbiology; D011134:Polysaccharides / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D051381:Rats; D045857:Ruminococcus / Q000502:physiology*; D015398:Signal Transduction; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D000085:Acetates; C000715467:KLF4 protein, human; C000715469:Klf4 protein, rat; D000090062:Kruppel-Like Factor 4; D011134:Polysaccharides