htmlOn October 25, a latest research result published in Nature-Chemistry shows that "eating soil" can also regulate the intestinal microbiome and treat enteritis !
Image source: Online
Inspired by soil components, the scientific research team constructed a soil bionic material composed of montmorillonite (natural soil component, commonly known as " Guanyin soil " ), starch granules and liquid metal through artificial synthesis. It has the characteristics of regulating the function of microbial .
, a new material with responsive and regulatory functions, can not only improve the efficiency of microbial synthesis chemicals , but also regulate intestinal microbial dysfunction and restore intestinal microecology , and have application potential in the fields of biomanufacturing and biomedical 3.
This result was completed by University of Chicago, Professor Tian Bozhi is the corresponding author of , Lin Yiliang is the first author of the article and the co-corresponding author, and Gao Xiang, associate researcher at the Institute of Synthetic Biology, Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, is the co-first author of the article.
can command the "artificial soil" of microorganisms
The microbial community in the natural environment is an important but understudied field . Soil is recognized as the most complex and rich environment in the earth system biodiversity . The diversity of prokaryotes in the soil is three orders of magnitude larger than the sum of other biological species in nature.
Inspired by the soil structure and components, the research team developed a new soil bionic material and built a chemical system that allows the microorganisms "added" to colonize the chemical system.
Soil bionic materials can respond to lasers, solvents, external forces, etc. , causing chemical heterogeneity to change from atom to the macroscopic level. realizes the modification of different components in this chemical system to chemical redistribution, sensing, writing and erasing , thereby exerting new functions, and the scientific research team can conduct more series of research on this basis.
Image source: Synthesis of porous soil bionic materials using ice template method. Photo provided by the research team
" We used a bottom-up method to simulate minerals, organic phases and mobile phases in the soil to synthesize a new chemical system. This chemical system is a soil biomimetic material that can enhance microbial metabolism in vitro and improve the synthesis of bio-based chemicals, enrich the diversity of the intestinal microbiome under pathological conditions, and regulate bacterial disorders in the body." Gao Xiang said.
Scientific "eating soil" can treat intestinal diseases
From the thinking of inorganic and organic combination to innovatively apply soils everywhere to scientific research, imitating soil structures to better combine materials with microorganisms. This is another innovative breakthrough for the scientific research team in the field of materials.
So, how to confirm that the research results have a regulatory effect on intestinal microorganisms?
Image source: Schematic diagram of edible "artificial soil" to help intestinal microecology. Photo provided by the research team
For this reason, the research team established a mouse model of intestinal microbial disorders. After the mice "eat" the soil bionic materials developed by the research team, they found that their disordered intestinal microbial bacterial flora had recovered and re-established the ecological model; in addition, it was found that This material can also be used to treat acute enteritis induced by dextran sodium sulfate.
Test mouse model treatment experiments through soil bionic materials, confirmed the regulation function of intestinal microbiota and the treatment of enteritis, indicating that "eating soil" can treat intestinal diseases .
"Our research results mainly have two application areas. One is to promote the growth of microorganisms and improve the efficiency of microorganisms to synthesize bio-based chemicals , and the other is to regulate intestinal microecology , thereby achieving the effect of treating intestinal diseases." Gao Xiang said.
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Content source/Technology Daily
