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Charizani E, Dushku E, Kyritsi M, Metallinou ET, Karathodorou A, Amanetidou E, Kokkaleniou MM, Passalis N, Tefas A, Staikou A, Yiangou M. Predicting the immunomodulatory activity of probiotic lactic acid bacteria using supervised machine learning in a Cornu aspersum snail model. FISH & SHELLFISH IMMUNOLOGY 2024; 152:109788. [PMID: 39053586 DOI: 10.1016/j.fsi.2024.109788] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2024] [Revised: 07/09/2024] [Accepted: 07/21/2024] [Indexed: 07/27/2024]
Abstract
In the process of screening for probiotic strains, there are no clearly established bacterial phenotypic markers which could be used for the prediction of their in vivo mechanism of action. In this work, we demonstrate for the first time that Machine Learning (ML) methods can be used for accurately predicting the in vivo immunomodulatory activity of probiotic strains based on their cell surface phenotypic features using a snail host-microbe interaction model. A broad range of snail gut presumptive probiotics, including 240 new lactic acid bacterial strains (Lactobacillus, Leuconostoc, Lactococcus, and Enterococcus), were isolated and characterized based on their capacity to withstand snails' gastrointestinal defense barriers, such as the pedal mucus, gastric mucus, gastric juices, and acidic pH, in association with their cell surface hydrophobicity, autoaggregation, and biofilm formation ability. The implemented ML pipeline predicted with high accuracy (88 %) strains with a strong capacity to enhance chemotaxis and phagocytic activity of snails' hemolymph cells, while also revealed bacterial autoaggregation and cell surface hydrophobicity as the most important parameters that significantly affect host immune responses. The results show that ML approaches may be useful to derive a predictive understanding of host-probiotic interactions, while also highlighted the use of snails as an efficient animal model for screening presumptive probiotic strains in the light of their interaction with cellular innate immune responses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elissavet Charizani
- Department of Genetics, Development & Molecular Biology, School of Biology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124, Thessaloniki, Greece
| | - Esmeralda Dushku
- Department of Genetics, Development & Molecular Biology, School of Biology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124, Thessaloniki, Greece
| | - Maria Kyritsi
- Department of Genetics, Development & Molecular Biology, School of Biology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124, Thessaloniki, Greece
| | - Eleftheria Theodora Metallinou
- Department of Genetics, Development & Molecular Biology, School of Biology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124, Thessaloniki, Greece
| | - Argyro Karathodorou
- Department of Genetics, Development & Molecular Biology, School of Biology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124, Thessaloniki, Greece
| | - Eleni Amanetidou
- Department of Genetics, Development & Molecular Biology, School of Biology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124, Thessaloniki, Greece
| | - Marianthi-Maria Kokkaleniou
- Department of Genetics, Development & Molecular Biology, School of Biology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124, Thessaloniki, Greece
| | - Nikolaos Passalis
- Computational Intelligence and Deep Learning Group, Artificial Intelligence and Information Analysis Laboratory, School of Informatics, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124, Thessaloniki, Greece
| | - Anastasios Tefas
- Computational Intelligence and Deep Learning Group, Artificial Intelligence and Information Analysis Laboratory, School of Informatics, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124, Thessaloniki, Greece
| | - Alexandra Staikou
- Department of Zoology, School of Biology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124, Thessaloniki, Greece
| | - Minas Yiangou
- Department of Genetics, Development & Molecular Biology, School of Biology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124, Thessaloniki, Greece.
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Dushku E, Ioannou A, Staikou A, Yiangou M. Probiotic properties and immunomodulatory activity of gastrointestinal tract commensal bacterial strains isolated from the edible farmed snail Cornu aspersum maxima. FISH & SHELLFISH IMMUNOLOGY 2019; 92:792-801. [PMID: 31271839 DOI: 10.1016/j.fsi.2019.06.061] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/16/2019] [Revised: 06/25/2019] [Accepted: 06/30/2019] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
The aim of this study was to determine the in vitro probiotic properties as well as the immunomodulatory activity of bacterial strains isolated from the gastrointestinal tract of the edible-farmed land snail Cornu aspersum maxima. Forty lactic acid bacterial strains (named Sgs1-40) were isolated from the intestinal tract and eight strains (named SgmA-H) from the oesophagus-crop of snails. Several criteria were used to examine whether they may be applied as snail-specific for the screening of the presumptive probiotic bacterial strains. Principal Component Analysis using criteria such as the tolerance of these strains to the pedal mucus, gastric mucus, gastric juices and low pH, as well as the expression of the cell surface traits of hydrophobicity, biofilm formation and autoaggregation capacity revealed discrimination of twelve strains exhibiting presumptive in vitro probiotic properties. Injection of eight of these strains, which were identified as Lactobacillus plantarum, in snail haemocoel increased the recruitment and phagocytic activity of amoebocytes in snail haemolymph. The Sgs14 and SgmB strains, exhibiting the highest immunostimulatory activity in haemolymph, were FITC-labelled and orally administrated to snails for ten days. The Sgs14 strain was able to adhere to intestinal mucosa of snails and stimulate the chemotactic and phagocytic activity of amoebocytes in haemolymph as well as the bactericidal activity of haemolymph serum. These responses are potentially mediated by the regulation of TLRs expression in the gut mucosa. These data indicate that the determination of properties such as snail mucus and gastric juice tolerance, cell surface traits for adhesion as well as increased chemotactic and phagocytic activity in snail haemolymph are eligible criteria to screen for snail-specific probiotics. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work that investigates the probiotic properties of gastrointestinal microflora of the terrestrial farmed snail Cornu aspersum maxima.
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Affiliation(s)
- Esmeralda Dushku
- Department of Genetics, Development & Molecular Biology, School of Biology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124, Thessaloniki, Greece
| | - Athanasia Ioannou
- Department of Genetics, Development & Molecular Biology, School of Biology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124, Thessaloniki, Greece
| | - Alexandra Staikou
- Department of Zoology, School of Biology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124, Thessaloniki, Greece
| | - Minas Yiangou
- Department of Genetics, Development & Molecular Biology, School of Biology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124, Thessaloniki, Greece.
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Pitt SJ, Hawthorne JA, Garcia-Maya M, Alexandrovich A, Symonds RC, Gunn A. Identification and characterisation of anti - Pseudomonas aeruginosa proteins in mucus of the brown garden snail, Cornu aspersum. Br J Biomed Sci 2019; 76:129-136. [PMID: 30966874 DOI: 10.1080/09674845.2019.1603794] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/24/2023]
Abstract
Background: Novel antimicrobial treatments are urgently needed. Previous work has shown that the mucus of the brown garden snail (Cornu aspersum) has antimicrobial properties, in particular against type culture collection strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. We hypothesised that it would also be effective against clinical isolates of the bacterium and that investigation of fractions of the mucus would identify one or more proteins with anti-pseudomonal properties, which could be further characterised. Materials and methods: Mucus was extracted from snails collected from the wild. Antimicrobial activity against laboratory and clinical isolates of Ps. aeruginosa was determined in disc diffusion assays. Mucus was purified using size exclusion chromatography and fractions containing anti-pseudomonal activity identified. Mass spectroscopy and high performance liquid chromatography analysis of these fractions yielded partial peptide sequences. These were used to interrogate an RNA transcriptome generated from whole snails. Results: Mucus from C. aspersum inhibited growth of type collection strains and clinical isolates of Ps. aeruginosa. Four novel C. aspersum proteins were identified; at least three are likely to have antimicrobial properties. The most interesting is a 37.4 kDa protein whilst smaller proteins, one 17.5 kDa and one 18.6 kDa also appear to have activity against Ps. aeruginosa. Conclusions: The study has identified novel proteins with antimicrobial properties which could be used to develop treatments for use in human medicine.
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Affiliation(s)
- S J Pitt
- a School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences , University of Brighton , Brighton , UK
| | - J A Hawthorne
- a School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences , University of Brighton , Brighton , UK
| | - M Garcia-Maya
- b Randall Division of Cell and Molecular Biophysics , King's College London , London, UK
| | - A Alexandrovich
- b Randall Division of Cell and Molecular Biophysics , King's College London , London, UK
| | - R C Symonds
- c School of Natural Sciences and Psychology , Liverpool John Moores University , Liverpool , UK
| | - A Gunn
- c School of Natural Sciences and Psychology , Liverpool John Moores University , Liverpool , UK
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Schultz JH, Adema CM. Comparative immunogenomics of molluscs. DEVELOPMENTAL AND COMPARATIVE IMMUNOLOGY 2017; 75:3-15. [PMID: 28322934 PMCID: PMC5494275 DOI: 10.1016/j.dci.2017.03.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/08/2017] [Revised: 03/10/2017] [Accepted: 03/15/2017] [Indexed: 05/22/2023]
Abstract
Comparative immunology, studying both vertebrates and invertebrates, provided the earliest descriptions of phagocytosis as a general immune mechanism. However, the large scale of animal diversity challenges all-inclusive investigations and the field of immunology has developed by mostly emphasizing study of a few vertebrate species. In addressing the lack of comprehensive understanding of animal immunity, especially that of invertebrates, comparative immunology helps toward management of invertebrates that are food sources, agricultural pests, pathogens, or transmit diseases, and helps interpret the evolution of animal immunity. Initial studies showed that the Mollusca (second largest animal phylum), and invertebrates in general, possess innate defenses but lack the lymphocytic immune system that characterizes vertebrate immunology. Recognizing the reality of both common and taxon-specific immune features, and applying up-to-date cell and molecular research capabilities, in-depth studies of a select number of bivalve and gastropod species continue to reveal novel aspects of molluscan immunity. The genomics era heralded a new stage of comparative immunology; large-scale efforts yielded an initial set of full molluscan genome sequences that is available for analyses of full complements of immune genes and regulatory sequences. Next-generation sequencing (NGS), due to lower cost and effort required, allows individual researchers to generate large sequence datasets for growing numbers of molluscs. RNAseq provides expression profiles that enable discovery of immune genes and genome sequences reveal distribution and diversity of immune factors across molluscan phylogeny. Although computational de novo sequence assembly will benefit from continued development and automated annotation may require some experimental validation, NGS is a powerful tool for comparative immunology, especially increasing coverage of the extensive molluscan diversity. To date, immunogenomics revealed new levels of complexity of molluscan defense by indicating sequence heterogeneity in individual snails and bivalves, and members of expanded immune gene families are expressed differentially to generate pathogen-specific defense responses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jonathan H Schultz
- Center for Evolutionary and Theoretical Immunology, Department of Biology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA
| | - Coen M Adema
- Center for Evolutionary and Theoretical Immunology, Department of Biology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA.
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Russo J, Madec L. Linking immune patterns and life history shows two distinct defense strategies in land snails (gastropoda, pulmonata). Physiol Biochem Zool 2013; 86:193-204. [PMID: 23434779 DOI: 10.1086/669482] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Abstract
Life history integration of the defense response was investigated at intra- and interspecific levels in land snails of the family Helicidae. Two hypotheses were tested: (i) fitness consequences of defense responses are closely related to life history traits such as size at maturity and life span; (ii) different pathways of the immune response based on "nonspecific" versus "specific" responses may reflect different defense options. Relevant immune responses to a challenge with E. coli were measured using the following variables: blood cell density, cellular or plasma antibacterial activity via reactive oxygen species (ROS) level, and bacterial growth inhibition. The results revealed that the largest snails did not exhibit the strongest immune response. Instead, body mass influenced the type of response in determining the appropriate strategy. Snails with a higher body mass at maturity had more robust plasma immune responses than snails with a lower mass, which had greater cell-mediated immune responses with a higher hemocyte density. In addition, ROS appeared also to be a stress mediator as attested by differences between sites and generations for the same species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jacqueline Russo
- Université de Rennes 1, Unité Mixte de Recherche 6553 ECOBIO, Campus de Beaulieu, Rennes Cedex, France.
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Février Y, Russo J, Madec L. Intraspecific variation in life history traits of a land snail after a bacterial challenge. J Zool (1987) 2009. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-7998.2008.00523.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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Płytycz B, Seljelid R. Bacterial clearance by the sea urchin, Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis. DEVELOPMENTAL AND COMPARATIVE IMMUNOLOGY 1993; 17:283-289. [PMID: 8325439 DOI: 10.1016/0145-305x(93)90047-t] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/22/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- B Płytycz
- Institute of Medical Biology, University of Tromsø, Norway
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Vargas-Albores F, Guzmán A, Luís Ochoa J. Size-dependent haemagglutinating activity in the haemolymph from sub-adult blue shrimp (Penaeus stylirostris stimpson). ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 1992. [DOI: 10.1016/0300-9629(92)90276-v] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
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Wolmarans CT, Yssel E. The granulocyte response of Bulinus africanus to infection with compatible and non-compatible trematode parasites. Int J Parasitol 1990; 20:315-8. [PMID: 2358314 DOI: 10.1016/0020-7519(90)90145-d] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
The granulocyte response of B. africanus was investigated after infection with either a compatible or a non-compatible trematode parasite. In both experiments a decrease in the granulocyte numbers was observed 7 days post-infection. This was maintained for 20 days. An observation made after 42 days showed that the numbers had recovered to normal. The granulocyte numbers of snails previously infected with S. mansoni (non-compatible) also showed a decrease 7 days after a reinfection. In this case, however, recovery of the numbers was apparent 14 days later. No sporocyst material was present in the head-foot areas of the snail 12 h post-penetration, indicating that they were already destroyed by the snails defence system.
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Affiliation(s)
- C T Wolmarans
- Department of Zoology, Potchefstroom University, Republic of South Africa
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van der Knaap WP, Boots AM, van Asselt LA, Sminia T. Specificity and memory in increased defence reactions against bacteria in the pond snail Lymnaea stagnalis. DEVELOPMENTAL AND COMPARATIVE IMMUNOLOGY 1983; 7:435-443. [PMID: 6357878 DOI: 10.1016/0145-305x(83)90028-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/21/2023]
Abstract
In Lymnaea stagnalis injections with dead Escherichia coli or Staphylococcus saprophyticus bacteria resulted in an enhanced clearance of both live S. saprophyticus and E. coli injected 4 days later. A non-specific activation of the internal defence system was concluded from these findings. The activation was dose-dependent: pre-injections with high doses resulted in a higher increase in the clearance capacity of the snails than pre-injections with low doses of bacteria. The state of increased activity of the defence system, induced with injection of dead E. coli, lasted at least 64 days. The heightened responses of the defence system were probably due to an activation of the blood cells (amoebocytes) since: 1) amoebocyte numbers increased faster in bacteria pretreated snails than in control animals; 2) ultrastructural observations revealed that the amoebocytes of bacteria pre-treated animals had a more ruffled outline than those of control snails; 3) amoebocytes from sensitized snails showed a higher phagocytic activity in vitro; 4) mitotic activity of amoebocytes increased after snails had been injected with bacteria.
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Sullivan JT, Richards CS, Joe LK, Heyneman D. Ribeiroia marini: irradiated miracidia and induction of acquired resistance in Biomphalaria glabrata. Exp Parasitol 1982; 53:17-25. [PMID: 7056343 DOI: 10.1016/0014-4894(82)90088-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/23/2023]
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Cheng TC, Minh Nguyen Bui, Howland KH, Schoenberg DA, Sullivan JT. Effect of preinjection of Crassostrea virginica with bacteria on subsequent chemotactic response by its hemocytes. J Invertebr Pathol 1981. [DOI: 10.1016/0022-2011(81)90042-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
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Bayne CJ. Molluscan immunity: interactions between the immunogenic bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa and the internal defense system of the snail Helix pomatia. DEVELOPMENTAL AND COMPARATIVE IMMUNOLOGY 1980; 4:215-222. [PMID: 6772484 DOI: 10.1016/s0145-305x(80)80025-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/21/2023]
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