Unrevealing the anti-microbial potential of engineered CXCL17-expressing lactic acid bacteria
CXCL17, previously referred to as DMC and VCC-1, is the most recent of the described chemokines. CXCL17 is predominantly expressed in mucosal tissues, such as the respiratory and gastrointestinal tracts, as well as in the pancreas and lungs, which suggests a role in mucosal immunity. Its biological effects are currently being revealed, where data from in silico profiling and comparisons to other proteins also suggest antimicrobial properties.
The effect of CXCL17-producing lactic acid bacteria in counteracting bacterial infections of the lungs will be tested through in vitro studies and in mouse models, where the lung microbiome is investigated before and after inhalation of relevant lung.
Antibiogram test done with antibiotics and chemokine-producing lactic acid bacteria.
This project is part of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)-doctoral network program "B-ACTIVE", an EU-funded collaboration between the universities of Leuven, Copenhagen, Graz, Ljubljana, Uppsala and several industrial partners located in Copenhagen, Uppsala, Graz, Cambridge and Paris (see https://b-active-dn.eu). PhD student Giacomo Veronese is the associated doctoral student to this project.
PhD Student Giacomo Veronese working in the lab
Related published research
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- Shiyu Xiao, Wenhui Xie, and Liya Zhou, “Mucosal Chemokine CXCL17: What Is Known and Not Known,” Scandinavian Journal of Immunology 93, no. 2 (February 2021): e12965, https://doi.org/10.1111/sji.12965.
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