Making the Probiotic Pichia pastoris Stickier and Tougher
Poster Number
14B
Research or Creativity Area
Natural Sciences
Abstract
The yeast Pichia (pronounced “pick-ee-uh”) pastoris is used to produce many therapeutic proteins, such as insulin, to treat human diseases. These medicinal proteins require purification and other intensive processing before they can be administered. We aim to develop P. pastoris into a probiotic that grows within and delivers therapeutic agents directly to the human body. Before this hypothesis can be tested in humans, we need to confirm that the yeast works in mice. Therefore, in a previous pilot study, we fed P. pastoris containing the enhanced green fluorescent protein gene to mice. Although preliminary analysis suggested that the yeast was able to colonize and express the model protein in the mouse gut, it was only for a relatively short time. Because this duration needs to be longer, we are pursuing two different strategies to increase Pichia’s residence time in the animal digestive tract. First, we are engineering our yeast to produce a fusion protein which should make the yeast able to “stick” to mucin proteins, which are produced by mouse cells. If the yeast are able to bind to mouse mucin, which is found on the surface of many GI tract organs, then we predict that these yeast, referred to as Stichia (pronounced “stick-ee-uh”), will stay longer inside the mouse body. Second, we are encasing our Pichia cells in alginate, a gel which should protect the yeast and increase their survival time inside the mouse gut. Because our preliminary findings have been encouraging, we believe that the results of our future studies will lay a foundation for using the yeast in human beings to treat diseases, such as lactose intolerance.
Location
Don and Karen DeRosa University Center (DUC) Poster Hall
Start Date
27-4-2024 10:30 AM
End Date
27-4-2024 12:30 PM
Making the Probiotic Pichia pastoris Stickier and Tougher
Don and Karen DeRosa University Center (DUC) Poster Hall
The yeast Pichia (pronounced “pick-ee-uh”) pastoris is used to produce many therapeutic proteins, such as insulin, to treat human diseases. These medicinal proteins require purification and other intensive processing before they can be administered. We aim to develop P. pastoris into a probiotic that grows within and delivers therapeutic agents directly to the human body. Before this hypothesis can be tested in humans, we need to confirm that the yeast works in mice. Therefore, in a previous pilot study, we fed P. pastoris containing the enhanced green fluorescent protein gene to mice. Although preliminary analysis suggested that the yeast was able to colonize and express the model protein in the mouse gut, it was only for a relatively short time. Because this duration needs to be longer, we are pursuing two different strategies to increase Pichia’s residence time in the animal digestive tract. First, we are engineering our yeast to produce a fusion protein which should make the yeast able to “stick” to mucin proteins, which are produced by mouse cells. If the yeast are able to bind to mouse mucin, which is found on the surface of many GI tract organs, then we predict that these yeast, referred to as Stichia (pronounced “stick-ee-uh”), will stay longer inside the mouse body. Second, we are encasing our Pichia cells in alginate, a gel which should protect the yeast and increase their survival time inside the mouse gut. Because our preliminary findings have been encouraging, we believe that the results of our future studies will lay a foundation for using the yeast in human beings to treat diseases, such as lactose intolerance.
