@article{77958f8251174ab5a46fa53488a63b1e,
title = "High-molecular-weight polymers from dietary fiber drive aggregation of particulates in the murine small intestine",
abstract = "The lumen of the small intestine (SI) is filled with particulates: microbes, therapeutic particles, and food granules. The structure of this particulate suspension could impact uptake of drugs and nutrients and the function of microorganisms; however, little is understood about how this suspension is re-structured as it transits the gut. Here, we demonstrate that particles spontaneously aggregate in SI luminal fluid ex vivo. We find that mucins and immunoglobulins are not required for aggregation. Instead, aggregation can be controlled using polymers from dietary fiber in a manner that is qualitatively consistent with polymer-induced depletion interactions, which do not require specific chemical interactions. Furthermore, we find that aggregation is tunable; by feeding mice dietary fibers of different molecular weights, we can control aggregation in SI luminal fluid. This work suggests that the molecular weight and concentration of dietary polymers play an underappreciated role in shaping the physicochemical environment of the gut. Editorial note: This article has been through an editorial process in which the authors decide how to respond to the issues raised during peer review. The Reviewing Editor{\textquoteright}s assessment is that all the issues have been addressed (see decision letter).",
author = "Steinberg, {Asher Preska} and Datta, {Sujit S.} and Thomas Naragon and Rolando, {Justin C.} and Bogatyrev, {Said R.} and Ismagilov, {Rustem F.}",
note = "Funding Information: This work was supported in part by DARPA Biological Robustness in Complex Settings (BRICS) contract HR0011-15-C-0093, Army Research Office (ARO) Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative (MURI) contract #W911NF-17-1-0402, the Jacobs Institute for Molecular Engineering for Medicine, and an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship DGE-144469 (to APS). We acknowledge Michael Porter, Joong Hwan Bahng, Jacob Barlow, Zhen-Gang Wang, Julia Kornfield, David Tirrell, Justin Bois, and Greg Donaldson for useful discussions; the Beckman Institute Biological Imaging Facility, the Broad Animal Facility, and the Church Animal Facility for experimental resources; Jennifer Costanza, Taren Thron, the Caltech Office of Laboratory Animal Resources, and the veterinary technicians at the California Institute of Technology for technical support; Joanne Lau for assistance with Western blot measurements; Emily Wyatt for assistance with zeta potential measurements; the Mazmanian laboratory for providing Rag1KO mice; the Eugene Chang Lab (University of Chicago) for providing the ini-tial breeding pairs for the MUC2KO colony and Leonard H Augenlicht at the Department of Oncology of Albert Einstein Cancer Center for providing the original MUC2KO line to them; and Natasha Shelby for contributions to writing and editing this manuscript. Funding Information: This work was supported in part by DARPA Biological Robustness in Complex Settings (BRICS) contract HR0011-15-C-0093, Army Research Office (ARO) Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative (MURI) contract #W911NF-17-1-0402, the Jacobs Institute for Molecular Engineering for Medicine, and an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship DGE-144469 (to APS). We acknowledge Michael Porter, Joong Hwan Bahng, Jacob Barlow, Zhen-Gang Wang, Julia Kornfield, David Tirrell, Justin Bois, and Greg Donaldson for useful discussions; the Beckman Institute Biological Imaging Facility, the Broad Animal Facility, and the Church Animal Facility for experimental resources; Jennifer Costanza, Taren Thron, the Caltech Office of Laboratory Animal Resources, and the veterinary technicians at the California Institute of Technology for technical support; Joanne Lau for assistance with Western blot measurements; Emily Wyatt for assistance with zeta potential measurements; the Mazmanian laboratory for providing Rag1KO mice; the Eugene Chang Lab (University of Chicago) for providing the initial breeding pairs for the MUC2KO colony and Leonard H Augenlicht at the Department of Oncology of Albert Einstein Cancer Center for providing the original MUC2KO line to them; and Natasha Shelby for contributions to writing and editing this manuscript. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} Preska Steinberg et al.",
year = "2019",
doi = "10.7554/ELIFE.40387",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "8",
journal = "eLife",
issn = "2050-084X",
publisher = "eLife Sciences Publications",
}