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Litteral V, Migliozzi R, Metzger D, McPherson C, Saldanha R. Engineering a Cortisol Sensing Enteric Probiotic. ACS Biomater Sci Eng 2023; 9:5163-5175. [PMID: 37647169 DOI: 10.1021/acsbiomaterials.2c01300] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/01/2023]
Abstract
Chronic stress can lead to prolonged adrenal gland secretion of cortisol, resulting in human ailments such as anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, metabolic syndrome, diabetes, immunosuppression, and cardiomyopathy. Real time monitoring of chronic increases in cortisol and intervening therapies to minimize the physiological effects of stress would be beneficial to prevent these endocrine related illnesses. Gut microbiota have shown the ability to secrete, respond, and even regulate endocrine hormones. One such microbe, Clostridium scindens, responds transcriptionally to cortisol. We engineered these cortisol responsive genetic elements from C. scindens into an enteric probiotic, E. coli Nissle 1917, to drive the expression of a fluorescent reporter allowing for the designing, testing, and building of a robust and physiologically relevant novel cortisol probiotic sensor. This smart probiotic was further engineered to be more sensitive and to respond to elevated cortisol by expressing tryptophan decarboxylase, thereby bestowing the ability to generate tryptamine and serotonin. Here we show that upon cortisol treatment the smart probiotic produces measurable amounts of tryptamine. Accumulated levels of these neuromodulators should improve mood, anxiety, and depression and drive down cortisol levels. Importantly, this work can serve as a model for the engineering of a sense-and-respond probiotic to modulate the gut-brain axis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vaughn Litteral
- UES Corporation, 4401 Dayton-Xenia Avenue, Beavercreek, Ohio 45432-1805, United States
- Air Force Research Laboratory, 711 Human Performance Wing, Airman Bioengineering Division, Applied Biotechnology Branch, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio 45433, United States
| | - Rebecca Migliozzi
- UES Corporation, 4401 Dayton-Xenia Avenue, Beavercreek, Ohio 45432-1805, United States
- Air Force Research Laboratory, 711 Human Performance Wing, Airman Bioengineering Division, Applied Biotechnology Branch, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio 45433, United States
| | - David Metzger
- UES Corporation, 4401 Dayton-Xenia Avenue, Beavercreek, Ohio 45432-1805, United States
- Air Force Research Laboratory, 711 Human Performance Wing, Airman Bioengineering Division, Applied Biotechnology Branch, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio 45433, United States
| | - Craig McPherson
- UES Corporation, 4401 Dayton-Xenia Avenue, Beavercreek, Ohio 45432-1805, United States
- Air Force Research Laboratory, 711 Human Performance Wing, Airman Bioengineering Division, Applied Biotechnology Branch, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio 45433, United States
| | - Roland Saldanha
- Air Force Research Laboratory, 711 Human Performance Wing, Airman Bioengineering Division, Applied Biotechnology Branch, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio 45433, United States
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