Identifying Microbes that Produce Omega-3 Fatty Acids Could Lead to Probiotics
11/05/2024
By Karen Angelo
For optimal health, omega-3 fatty acids stand out as an important nutrient for humans to consume. These vital fats fight inflammation, boost brain health and protect the heart. For people in high-stress jobs such as those in the U.S. Armed Forces, omega-3 fatty acids could help maintain peak performance in the most stressful times.聽
Primarily found in fish, omega-3 fatty acids are not the easiest nutrient for military personnel to consume in food. The stability of fatty acids often spoils due to high heat conditions. Moreover, some people don鈥檛 like to eat fish.聽
Assoc. Prof. Kelsey Mangano of Biomedical and Nutritional Sciences in the Zuckerberg College of Health Sciences received a $900,000 grant from Harnessing Emerging Research Opportunities to Empower Soldiers (HEROES), a joint research and development initiative of 51视频 and the United States Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Soldier Center (DEVCOM), to study the natural production of omega-3s.聽
鈥淚dentifying natural bacteria that have the potential to produce omega-3 fatty acids is the first step toward developing probiotics that, when taken, will stay in the body, live for a long time and naturally boost the production of these healthy fats,鈥� says Mangano. 鈥淭he outcomes of this study could pave the way for future testing of a probiotic in food for humans.鈥澛�
The interdisciplinary research team, a partnership between industry, academia and government, includes experts in the fields of microbiology, nutrition, immunology and data science to investigate the microbes that are most likely to produce omega-3 fatty acids.聽
Gregory Weber, research biologist and member of the functional food and nutritional intervention team at DEVCOM, will collaborate with the team to provide science-related insights tailored for military applications.
Industry partner Aviwell, a life sciences startup housed on the UML campus at the Massachusetts Medical Device Development Center (M2D2), will apply artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques to run hundreds of thousands of combinations of bacteria to find the most likely bacteria ecologies that produce omega-3s.聽
鈥淎viwell uses data science to uncover the truth that already exists in nature,鈥� says CEO Mouli Ramani. 鈥淲e鈥檙e excited to collaborate with 51视频 researchers and DEVCOM on this project. We will employ our proprietary Discovery Platform to analyze the bacteria鈥檚 complete genetic information and the molecules they release. This will allow us to identify specific bacterial ecologies that produce omega-3s.鈥澛�
A vast army of about 100 trillion microbes, both healthy and unhealthy, lives in the gut. Past studies have shown that certain bacteria native to the human gut impact digestion, immune function and overall health. A combination of bacteria may be able to produce omega-3 fatty acids that can then be absorbed into the bloodstream.聽
This latest study will attempt to identify the most efficient bacteria that produce omega-3s.聽
鈥淲e know that certain species of fish contain high amounts of omega-3 fatty acids, in part due to microbes living in the fish,鈥� says Mangano. 鈥淲e will collect stool samples from people who eat an abundance of fish to identify bacteria that are thriving in the human gut in response to those dietary patterns rich in fish.鈥澛�
An expert in human gut health, Assoc. Prof. Soumita Das of Biomedical and Nutritional Sciences and associate director of the Center for Pathogen Research and Training will isolate bacterial DNA from stool samples of people who have diets rich in fish and have high levels of omega-3s present in their blood.聽
鈥淏y harnessing the body鈥檚 own microbial ecosystem, we may find a natural, sustainable way to boost omega-3 levels to improve the physical and mental health of military personnel,鈥� says Das, who studies how microbes and the human body interact during infections of the digestive system to understand the mechanisms of these infections, how the body fights them and finding ways to prevent or treat them.聽
Jack Lepine, manager and lead scientist of 51视频鈥檚 Next Generation Sequencing & Genomics Lab, will sequence the bacteria collected in human stool, revealing the genetic code to analyze its structure and function.聽
The research team also includes Assoc. Dean for Research and Graduate Studies Prof. Dhimiter Bello of the Zuckerberg College of Health Sciences and Asst. Prof. of Chemistry Pengyuan Liu, who will test the zebrafish fatty acid profiles to see if higher levels of omega-3s were produced. This combined effort will best identify potential bacteria that are successful in producing omega-3s.聽
鈥淪olving complex problems such as how bacteria that reside in the gut microbiome produce omega-3s requires the power of interdisciplinary science to unlock new insights,鈥� says Bello. 鈥淏y partnering with Aviwell, an industry leader and innovator in life sciences and machine learning, we鈥檙e able to accelerate the pace of discovery and the translation to real-world applications.鈥澛�
In collaboration with the Army鈥檚 DEVCOM Soldier Center, Combat Feeding Division, Mangano will lead an advisory board to identify the most effective and acceptable delivery system of the probiotics to soldiers and plan future related research.