Commensal bacterial glycosylation at the interface of host-bacteria interactions.

Commensal bacteria produce a diverse array of glycosylated molecules, including glycoproteins, glycolipids, peptidoglycan, capsular polysaccharides, and exopolysaccharides, which play fundamental roles in host-microbe interactions. Recent advances have highlighted the intricate mechanisms by which bacterial glycosylation contributes to immune regulation, epithelial barrier integrity, and microbial community stability, with implications for a range of conditions, including infectious diseases, chronic inflammatory disorders such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and Alzheimer's disease, and metabolic diseases such as diet-induced obesity. This review provides a comprehensive synthesis of historical and recent insights into commensal bacterial glycosylation, emphasizing its role as a key mediator of host-bacteria interactions and its broader impact on gut homeostasis and systemic health.

Fibroblast growth factor 16: Molecular mechanisms, signalling crosstalk, and emerging roles in cardiac biology and metabolic regulation.

Fibroblast growth factor (FGF) 16 is critically involved in embryonic heart development, adult cardiac homeostasis, and potentially in metabolic regulation. Initially recognized for its cardiac-specific role during embryogenesis, recent studies demonstrate that FGF16 significantly mitigates pathological cardiac remodelling, such as fibrosis and hypertrophy, through competitive inhibition of FGF2-induced transforming growth factor-β1 signalling via FGF receptor 1c. Molecular investigations further indicate that FGF16 exerts cardioprotective effects primarily through activation of key intracellular pathways, including phosphoinositide 3-kinase/protein kinase B and protein kinase C, as well as regulation by transcription factors GATA binding protein 4, nuclear Factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells, and cardiac-specific homeobox/NK2 homeobox 5, and RNA methyltransferase-mediated N6-methyladenosine modifications.

High-Fat Diet Differentially Regulates Fibroblast Growth Factor Expression in Metabolic Tissues of Young and Aged Male Mice.

Context: Fibroblast growth factors (FGFs) play critical roles in metabolism, yet their tissue-specific expression in response to obesity and aging remains unclear.

Objective: We investigated the mRNA expression profiles of FGFs along with their receptors, across major metabolic tissues-heart, liver, kidney, skeletal muscle, gonadal white adipose tissue, subcutaneous white adipose tissue, and brown adipose tissue.

Methods: Young (7-week-old) and aged (12-month-old) male mice were fed either a high-fat diet (HFD) or a normal diet for 11 weeks.

Bacterial and host fucosylation maintain IgA homeostasis to limit intestinal inflammation in mice.

Inflammatory bowel disease is associated with several genetic risk loci. Loss-of-function mutation in the α1,2-fucosyltransferase (fut2) gene, which alters fucosylation on the surface of intestinal epithelial cells, is one example. However, whether bacterial fucosylation can contribute to gut inflammation is unclear.

Neutral ceramidase regulates breast cancer progression by metabolic programming of TREM2-associated macrophages.

The tumor microenvironment is reprogrammed by cancer cells and participates in all stages of tumor progression. Neutral ceramidase is a key regulator of ceramide, the central intermediate in sphingolipid metabolism. The contribution of neutral ceramidase to the reprogramming of the tumor microenvironment is not well understood.

Hepatic Transcriptome and Its Regulation Following Soluble Epoxide Hydrolase Inhibition in Alcohol-Associated Liver Disease.

Alcohol-associated liver disease (ALD) is a serious public health problem with limited pharmacologic options. The goal of the current study was to investigate the efficacy of pharmacologic inhibition of soluble epoxide hydrolase (sEH), an enzyme involved in lipid metabolism, in experimental ALD, and to examine the underlying mechanisms. C57BL/6J male mice were subjected to acute-on-chronic ethanol (EtOH) feeding with or without the sEH inhibitor 4-[[trans-4-[[[[4-trifluoromethoxy phenyl]amino]carbonyl]-amino]cyclohexyl]oxy]-benzoic acid (TUCB).

Alcohol-mediated susceptibility to lung fibrosis is associated with group 2 innate lymphoid cells in mice.

Chronic alcohol ingestion promotes acute lung injury and impairs immune function. However, the mechanisms involved are incompletely understood. Here, we show that alcohol feeding enhances bleomycin-induced lung fibrosis and inflammation via the regulation of type 2 innate immune responses, especially by group 2 innate lymphoid cells (ILC2s).

Enteric VIP-producing neurons maintain gut microbiota homeostasis through regulating epithelium fucosylation.

Interactions between the enteric nervous system (ENS) and intestinal epithelium are thought to play a vital role in intestinal homeostasis. How the ENS monitors the frontier with commensal and pathogenic microbes while maintaining epithelial function remains unclear. Here, by combining subdiaphragmatic vagotomy with transcriptomics, chemogenetic strategy, and coculture of enteric neuron-intestinal organoid, we show that enteric neurons expressing VIP shape the α1,2-fucosylation of intestinal epithelial cells (IECs).

Nrf2 transcriptional upregulation of IDH2 to tune mitochondrial dynamics and rescue angiogenic function of diabetic EPCs.

Endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) are reduced in number and impaired in function in diabetic patients. Whether and how Nrf2 regulates the function of diabetic EPCs remains unclear. In this study, we found that the expression of Nrf2 and its downstream genes were decreased in EPCs from both diabetic patients and db/db mice.

Probiotic-derived nanoparticles inhibit ALD through intestinal miR194 suppression and subsequent FXR activation.

Background And Aims: Intestinal farnesoid X receptor (FXR) plays a critical role in alcohol-associated liver disease (ALD). We aimed to investigate whether alcohol-induced dysbiosis increased intestinal microRNA194 (miR194) that suppressed Fxr transcription and whether Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG-derived exosome-like nanoparticles (LDNPs) protected against ALD through regulation of intestinal miR194-FXR signaling in mice.

Approach And Results: Binge-on-chronic alcohol exposure mouse model was utilized.

Neutral ceramidase-dependent regulation of macrophage metabolism directs intestinal immune homeostasis and controls enteric infection.

It is not clear how the complex interactions between diet and intestinal immune cells protect the gut from infection. Neutral ceramidase (NcDase) plays a critical role in digesting dietary sphingolipids. We find that NcDase is an essential factor that controls intestinal immune cell dynamics.

Alcohol-driven metabolic reprogramming promotes development of RORγt-deficient thymic lymphoma.

RORγt is a master regulator of Th17 cells. Despite evidence linking RORγt deficiency/inhibition with metastatic thymic T cell lymphomas, the role of RORγt in lymphoma metabolism is unknown. Chronic alcohol consumption plays a causal role in many human cancers.

Human Beta Defensin 2 Ameliorated Alcohol-Associated Liver Disease in Mice.

Alcohol-associated liver disease (ALD) is a prevalent liver disorder and significant global healthcare burden with limited effective therapeutic options. The gut-liver axis is a critical factor contributing to susceptibility to liver injury due to alcohol consumption. In the current study, we tested whether human beta defensin-2 (hBD-2), a small anti-microbial peptide, attenuates experimental chronic ALD.

Exosome-like nanoparticles from Mulberry bark prevent DSS-induced colitis via the AhR/COPS8 pathway.

Bark protects the tree against environmental insults. Here, we analyzed whether this defensive strategy could be utilized to broadly enhance protection against colitis. As a proof of concept, we show that exosome-like nanoparticles (MBELNs) derived from edible mulberry bark confer protection against colitis in a mouse model by promoting heat shock protein family A (Hsp70) member 8 (HSPA8)-mediated activation of the AhR signaling pathway.

Deficiency of Cathelicidin Attenuates High-Fat Diet Plus Alcohol-Induced Liver Injury through FGF21/Adiponectin Regulation.

Alcohol consumption and obesity are known risk factors of steatohepatitis. Here, we report that the deficiency of CRAMP (cathelicidin-related antimicrobial peptide-gene name: ) is protective against a high-fat diet (HFD) plus acute alcohol (HFDE)-induced liver injury. HFDE markedly induced liver injury and steatosis in WT mice, which were attenuated in mice.

Transgenic Mice With Augmented n3-Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids Are Protected From Liver Injury Caused by Acute-On-Chronic Ethanol Administration.

Alcohol-associated liver disease (ALD) is the leading cause of liver disease worldwide, and alcohol-associated hepatitis (AH), a severe form of ALD, is a major contributor to the mortality and morbidity due to ALD. Many factors modulate susceptibility to ALD development and progression, including nutritional factors such as dietary fatty acids. Recent work from our group and others showed that modulation of dietary or endogenous levels of n6-and n3-polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) can exacerbate or attenuate experimental ALD, respectively.

Exosome-Like Nanoparticles From GG Protect Against Alcohol-Associated Liver Disease Through Intestinal Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor in Mice.

Alcohol-associated liver disease (ALD) is a major cause of mortality. Gut barrier dysfunction-induced bacterial translocation and endotoxin release contribute to the pathogenesis of ALD. Probiotic GG (LGG) is known to be beneficial on experimental ALD by reinforcing the intestinal barrier function.

Cathelicidin-related antimicrobial peptide alleviates alcoholic liver disease through inhibiting inflammasome activation.

Alcoholic liver disease (ALD) is associated with gut dysbiosis and hepatic inflammasome activation. While it is known that antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) play a critical role in the regulation of bacterial homeostasis in ALD, the functional role of AMPs in the alcohol-induced inflammasome activation is unclear. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of cathelicidin-related antimicrobial peptide (CRAMP) on inflammasome activation in ALD.

Neutral Ceramidase Mediates Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis by Regulating Monounsaturated Fatty Acids and Gut IgA B Cells.

Background And Aims: Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is associated with obesity and an increased risk for liver cirrhosis and cancer. Neutral ceramidase (NcDase), which is highly expressed in the intestinal brush border of the small intestine, plays a critical role in digesting dietary sphingolipids (ceramide) to regulate the balance of sphingosine and free fatty acids. It remains unresolved whether obesity-associated alteration of NcDase contributes to the manifestation of NASH.

Erratum: B7-H3 promotes the cell cycle-mediated chemoresistance of colorectal cancer cells by regulating CDC25A: Erratum.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.7150/jca.37255.

Inhibition of Sphingosine-1-Phosphate-Induced Th17 Cells Ameliorates Alcohol-Associated Steatohepatitis in Mice.

Background And Aims: Chronic alcohol consumption is accompanied by intestinal inflammation. However, little is known about how alterations to the intestinal immune system and sphingolipids contribute to the pathogenesis of alcohol-associated liver disease (ALD).

Approach And Results: We used wild-type mice, retinoid-related orphan receptor gamma t (RORγt)-deficient mice, sphingosine kinase-deficient mice, and local gut anti-inflammatory, 5-aminosalicyclic acid-treated mice in a chronic-binge ethanol feeding model.

Endothelial Overexpression of Metallothionein Prevents Diabetes-Induced Impairment in Ischemia Angiogenesis Through Preservation of HIF-1α/SDF-1/VEGF Signaling in Endothelial Progenitor Cells.

Diabetes-induced oxidative stress is one of the major contributors to dysfunction of endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) and impaired endothelial regeneration. Thus, we tested whether increasing antioxidant protein metallothionein (MT) in EPCs promotes angiogenesis in a hind limb ischemia (HLI) model in endothelial MT transgenic (JTMT) mice with high-fat diet- and streptozocin-induced diabetes. Compared with littermate wild-type (WT) diabetic mice, JTMT diabetic mice had improved blood flow recovery and angiogenesis after HLI.

B7-H3 promotes the cell cycle-mediated chemoresistance of colorectal cancer cells by regulating CDC25A.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common malignancies, and chemoresistance is one of the key obstacles in the clinical outcome. Here, we studied the function of B7-H3 in regulating cell cycle-mediated chemoresistance in CRC. The ability of B7-H3 in regulating chemoresistance was investigated via cell viability, clonogenicity, apoptosis and cycle analysis .