Biology subjects

Guinto, E.

Publications and source records attributed to Guinto, E..

2 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2026

Rapid early life colonization of the intestinal tract by Akkermansia muciniphila after voluntary feeding

BackgroundNon-invasive methods to colonize intact gut microbiota populations with specific bacterial species are useful for experimental studies that advance our understanding of this commensal microbial population in health and disease. Within the gut microbiota, the anaerobic muciniphile Akkermansia muciniphila has many established health benefits. We report the development of a new voluntary feeding protocol for non-invasive administration of bacteria into the intestine and use it to characterize the early life colonization of the intestinal tract by A. muciniphila. ResultsMice were voluntarily fed a human strain of A. muciniphila (MucT/BAA-835) in the week after weaning, whereupon they consistently and rapidly ingested the bacterium. At this developmental period, conventionally housed mice were rapidly colonized by human A. muciniphila that persisted until at least 8 weeks of age. In mice that contained a dysbiotic gut microbiota that lack endogenous A. muciniphila, voluntary feeding with human A. muciniphila similarly led to rapid and stable colonization. Colonization was similar in female and male mice. Also, in conventionally housed mice there was incomplete colonization of the intestinal tract with endogenous A. muciniphila between 3 - 4 weeks of age, which enabled its competitive exclusion by human A. muciniphila that was orally delivered. ConclusionsThese findings establish a new and non-invasive approach for colonizing the intestinal tract with commensal microbes that provides information on the early life colonization of the gut microbiota with A. muciniphila.

microbiology↗

bioRxiv2023

Single-cell RNA-sequencing of bronchoscopy specimens: development of a rapid, minimal-handling protocol

Single-cell RNA-sequencing (scRNA-seq) is an important tool for understanding disease pathophysiology, including airways diseases. Currently, the majority of scRNA-seq studies in airways diseases have used invasive methods (airway biopsy, surgical resection) which carry inherent risks and thus present a major limitation to scRNA-seq investigation of airway pathology. Bronchial brushing, where the airway mucosa is sampled using a cytological brush, is a viable, less invasive method of obtaining airway cells for scRNA-seq. Here we are describing the development of a rapid and minimal-handling protocol for preparing single cell suspensions from bronchial brush specimens for scRNA-seq. Our optimized protocol maximises cell recovery and cell quality, and may facilitate large-scale profiling of the airway transcriptome at single cell resolution. Lay abstractSingle-cell RNA-sequencing (scRNA-seq) measures the gene expression of individual cells, and may be useful for understanding disease processes. scRNA-seq may be used to investigate lung diseases, but using invasive methods such as biopsy or surgery limits our ability to conduct large research studies. Bronchial brushing, where a soft brush is used to collect cells from inside the lungs, is a safer method but we need a better way to isolate individual cells from the brush specimens. We developed a method that is faster and involves less handling of the specimens compared to other published methods. Our method may therefore be useful for conducting large scRNA-seq studies in lung diseases.

genomics↗