Lactic Acid Bacteria Convert Human Fibroblasts to Multipotent Cells

Abstract

The human gastrointestinal tract is colonized by a vast community of symbionts and commensals. Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) form a group of related, low-GC-content, gram-positive bacteria that are considered to offer a number of probiotic benefits to general health. While the role of LAB in gastrointestinal microecology has been the subject of extensive study, little is known about how commensal prokaryotic organisms directly influence eukaryotic cells. Here, we demonstrate the generation of multipotential cells from adult human dermal fibroblast cells by incorporating LAB. LAB-incorporated cell clusters are similar to embryoid bodies derived from embryonic stem cells and can differentiate into endodermal, mesodermal, and ectodermal cells in vivo and in vitro. LAB-incorporated cell clusters express a set of genes associated with multipotency, and microarray analysis indicates a remarkable increase of NANOG, a multipotency marker, and a notable decrease in HOX gene expression in LAB-incorporated cells. During the cell culture, the LAB-incorporated cell clusters stop cell division and start to express early senescence markers without cell death. Thus, LAB-incorporated cell clusters have potentially wide-ranging implications for cell generation, reprogramming, and cell-based therapy.

Artificial acceleration of mammalian cell reprogramming by bacterial proteins

“…Although lactic acid bacteria and leprosy bacilli have been reported to have some promoting activity on mammalian cell reprogramming to pluripotency (Ohta et al 2012;Masaki et al 2013), there have been no such reports about proteins of bacteria that naturally do not directly interact with mammals. Thirty ORFs highly specific for Wolbachia strains that infected insects were identified by a comparative analysis of various bacterial whole-genome sequences by the RECOG.…”

Reconstructed Human Epidermis Predicts Barrier-Improving Effects of <b><i>Lactococcus lactis</i></b> Emulsion in Humans

“…A delayed onset of bone loss, skin ulcers, and hair loss was observed in a mouse model of accelerated aging, too [13]. Oral uptake of heat-killed Lactococcus improved skin hydration and apparent hair follicles in aged Japanese women [14], which aligns with results of living Lactococcus lactis inducing multipotency in monolayer cultures of adult human fibroblasts [15]. The effects of topically applied probiotics have rarely been studied [16, 17], yet, topical application enables a higher concentration at the target organ compared to oral delivery.…”

Cell Shape and Cell Lineage Conversion

“…Enablers for abnormal EMTs may lie in the complex changes in epigenetic regulation in CSCs and the yet poorly-understood extracellular chemical and physical properties of cancer tissues. MET has also been associated with cellular reprogramming, with recent data showing that somatic cell reprogramming can be induced by either extracellular stimulation or stress (Ohta et al, 2012). Altered cell morphology such as in MET due to exogenous stimuli may represent a more direct mechanism underpinning reprogramming in somatic cells.…”