Uptake of fucosylated type I human milk oligosaccharide blocks by <i>Bifidobacterium longum</i> subsp. <i>infantis</i>

The assembly of the gut microbiota in early life is critical to the health trajectory of human hosts. Breast feeding selects for a <i>Bifidobacterium</i>-rich community, adapted to efficiently utilize human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) from mother's milk. Industrial scale production of HMOs for infant formula fortification has mainly considered fucosyllactoses, whereas fucosylated type 1 HMO blocks have hitherto not been explored. Our work sheds light on the uptake facet, central to the utilization of fucosylated HMOs with type 1 LNB building blocks. These type I blocks are efficiently internalized and assimilated by <i>B. infantis</i>, which has been recently shown to secrete immune-modulatory aromatic-lactate metabolites that mediate immune-priming of hosts in early life. This study contributes to our understanding of the utilization of HMOs and highlights fucosylated LNB blocks, as hitherto unexplored prebiotic candidates that support the growth of <i>B. infantis</i> and other beneficial gut bacteria in early life.

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Publication Details

Journal
mBio
Published
2025-07-14
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1128/mbio.00368-25
Citations
2
Primary Topic
Infant Nutrition and Health
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
2.24

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article

Uptake of fucosylated type I human milk oligosaccharide blocks by Bifidobacterium longum subsp. infantis

Maher Abou Hachem, Hiroka Sakanaka, Aruto Nakajima, Tine Sofie Nielsen et al.
2 citations
mBio
Infant Nutrition and Health
2.24
article

Uptake of fucosylated type I human milk oligosaccharide blocks by Bifidobacterium longum subsp. infantis

Maher Abou Hachem, Hiroka Sakanaka, Aruto Nakajima, Tine Sofie Nielsen, Jens Preben Morth, Michael Jakob Pichler, Mikiyasu Sakanaka, Morten Ejby, Shingo Maeda, Günther H. Peters, Sonja Kunstmann, Takane Katayama, Dirk Jan Slotboom, Julie Franck Høvring, Mathias Jensen
article en
2 citations

Abstract

The assembly of the gut microbiota in early life is critical to the health trajectory of human hosts. Breast feeding selects for a <i>Bifidobacterium</i>-rich community, adapted to efficiently utilize human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) from mother's milk. Industrial scale production of HMOs for infant formula fortification has mainly considered fucosyllactoses, whereas fucosylated type 1 HMO blocks have hitherto not been explored. Our work sheds light on the uptake facet, central to the utilization of fucosylated HMOs with type 1 LNB building blocks. These type I blocks are efficiently internalized and assimilated by <i>B. infantis</i>, which has been recently shown to secrete immune-modulatory aromatic-lactate metabolites that mediate immune-priming of hosts in early life. This study contributes to our understanding of the utilization of HMOs and highlights fucosylated LNB blocks, as hitherto unexplored prebiotic candidates that support the growth of <i>B. infantis</i> and other beneficial gut bacteria in early life.

mBioVol. 16(8)
University of Groningen (NL), Ishikawa Prefectural University (JP), Kyoto University (JP), Institute of Molecular Life Sciences (HU), Technical University of Denmark (DK)
Natur og Univers, Det Frie Forskningsråd, Novo Nordisk Fonden, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science
Openalex Percentile: Top 13%
Infant Nutrition and Health
2.24
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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