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Beneficial Bacteria
25 February 2018

Beneficial Bacteria

When newborn babies first experience the world, bacteria swoop in to make a home in their guts. This is vital for a healthy digestive system. However in premature babies this process can be harmful. To understand why, researchers first investigated how normal newborn guts react. They modelled the immature gut epithelium of newborns using human stem cells that were encouraged in the lab, using chemicals, to become intestinal organoids (pictured). Next they added Escherichia coli bacteria and found they helped the gut epithelium develop by reducing oxygen levels (second panel) as when oxygen was limited artificially without E. coli (fourth panel). This was detected using a marker for low oxygen, PMDZ (red), absent in epithelium that had no (first panel) or defective (third panel) E. coli. Reduced oxygen spurred on antimicrobial production, mucus layer development and barrier formation – all measures that would help protect a newborn gut.

Written by Lux Fatimathas

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BPoD stands for Biomedical Picture of the Day. Managed by the MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences until Jul 2023, it is now run independently by a dedicated team of scientists and writers. The website aims to engage everyone, young and old, in the wonders of biology, and its influence on medicine. The ever-growing archive of more than 4000 research images documents over a decade of progress. Explore the collection and see what you discover. Images are kindly provided for inclusion on this website through the generosity of scientists across the globe.

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