Project description:We designed a long-term culture system for porcine intestinal organoids from intestinal crypt or single Lgr5+ stem cells by combining previously defined insights in the growth requirements of intestinal epithelium of human and mouse. We showed that long-term cultured swine intestinal organoids were expanded in vitro more than six months at least and maintained the potential to differentiate into different types of cells. These organoids were successfully infected with porcine enteric coronavirus including porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) and transmissible gastroenteritis virus (TGEV). RNA-seq analysis showed that robust induction of transcripts associated with antiviral signaling in response to enteric coronavrius infection, including a number of interferon-stimulated genes and cytokines. Moreover, gene set enrichment analysis indicated that PEDV infection could suppress immune response in organoids. This 3D intestinal organoid model offers a long-term, renewable resource for investigating porcine intestinal infections with a variety of pathogens.
Project description:Swine coronavirus-porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) with specific susceptibility to pigs has existed for decades, and recurrent epidemics caused by mutant strains have swept the world again since 2010. Here, single-cell RNA-sequencing was used to perform a systematic analysis of pig small intestines infected with PEDV for the first time. Multiple cell types were identified by representative markers, including the unique marker DNAH11 of tuft cells. Meanwhile, the goblet and tuft cells were also susceptible to PEDV except enterocytes. PEDV infection obviously upregulated REG3G, which significantly inhibited virus replication. Notably, IFN-DELTAs in goblet and enterocyte progenitor cells were increased in virus infected piglet, and IFN-DELTA5 could induce GBP1, ISG15, OAS2 and IFITM1 dramatically raised in IPEC-J2 cells and restricted PEDV replication. Complement molecules were mainly expressed in intestinal cells excepting tuft cells, but PEDV decreased C3, C4A, and C5 in enterocytes, thus escaping the antiviral effect of C3. Finally, enterocytes expressed almost all coronavirus entry factors, and PEDV infection caused significant upregulation of the coronavirus receptor ACE2 in porcine enterocyte cells. In summary, this study systematically studied the response of different cell types in small intestine of pigs after PEDV infection, which deepened the understanding of viral pathogenesis.
Project description:Gut microbiome research is rapidly moving towards the functional characterization of the microbiota by means of shotgun meta-omics. Here, we selected a cohort of healthy subjects from an indigenous and monitored Sardinian population to analyze their gut microbiota using both shotgun metagenomics and shotgun metaproteomics. We found a considerable divergence between genetic potential and functional activity of the human healthy gut microbiota, in spite of a quite comparable taxonomic structure revealed by the two approaches. Investigation of inter-individual variability of taxonomic features revealed Bacteroides and Akkermansia as remarkably conserved and variable in abundance within the population, respectively. Firmicutes-driven butyrogenesis (mainly due to Faecalibacterium spp.) was shown to be the functional activity with the higher expression rate and the lower inter-individual variability in the study cohort, highlighting the key importance of the biosynthesis of this microbial by-product for the gut homeostasis. The taxon-specific contribution to functional activities and metabolic tasks was also examined, giving insights into the peculiar role of several gut microbiota members in carbohydrate metabolism (including polysaccharide degradation, glycan transport, glycolysis and short-chain fatty acid production). In conclusion, our results provide useful indications regarding the main functions actively exerted by the gut microbiota members of a healthy human cohort, and support metaproteomics as a valuable approach to investigate the functional role of the gut microbiota in health and disease.
Project description:Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) has reemerged as the main pathogen of piglets due to its high mutation feature. Monolaurin (ML) is a natural compound with a wide range of antibacterial and antiviral activities. However, the role of ML in PEDV infection is still unknown. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of ML on the growth performance, intestinal function, virus replication and cytokine response in piglets infected with PEDV, and to reveal the mechanism through proteomics analysis. Piglets were orally administrated with ML at a dose of 100 mg/kg·BW for 7 days before PEDV infection. Results showed that although there was no significant effect on the growth performance of piglets, ML administration alleviated the diarrhea caused by PEDV infection. ML administration promoted the recovery of intestinal villi, thereby improving intestinal function. Meanwhile, PEDV replication was significantly inhibited, and PEDV-induced expression of IL-6 and IL-8 were decreased with ML administration. Proteomics analyses showed that 38 proteins were differentially expressed between PEDV and ML+PEDV groups, and were significantly enriched in the interferon-related pathways. This suggests ML could promote the restoration of homeostasis by regulating the interferon pathway. Overall, the present study demonstrated ML could confer a protective effect against PEDV infection in piglets, and may be developed as a drug or feed additive to prevent and control PEDV disease.