Differential translocation of bacteriophages across the intestinal barrier in health and Crohn’s disease
Impaired intestinal barrier function is a major feature of Crohn's disease, leading to exacerbated inflammation in response to the microbiota. In this context, the translocation of intestinal bacteriophages (phages) and their effects on the host haven't been fully investigated. We use phage fluorescence imaging coupled with ex vivo, in vitro, and in vivo models that mimic physiological and inflammatory conditions and find that phages can translocate across the intestinal barrier without disrupting its integrity. While changes in the epithelial barrier integrity selectively impact phage translocation rates, alterations in the permeability of the vascular endothelium do not affect phage crossing. Virome analysis confirms that viral sequences shared between the blood and fecal samples of patients with Crohn's disease are more abundant than in healthy subjects, suggesting that a barrier defect facilitates intestinal phage translocation.
Authors
- Luisa De Sordi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3785-550X)
- Harry Sokol
- Alberto Danielli (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9414-9898)
- Quentin Lamy-Besnier (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7141-6340)
- Roberto Saporetti (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8558-7191)
- Olivier Schiettekatte (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7552-1175)
- Clara Douadi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3258-7427)
- Yanis Sbardella
- Marianne De Paepe
- Ilias Theodorou
- Loïc Brot
- Matteo Calvaresi
- Diego Garcia-Weber
- Sophie Thenet
- Véronique Carrière
- Paolo Emidio Costantini
Institutions
- Inserm (FR)
- École Pratique des Hautes Études (FR)
- AgroParisTech (FR)
- Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (FR)
- Université Paris-Saclay (FR)
- Microbiologie de l’alimentation au service de la santé (FR)
- Sorbonne Université (FR)
- Institut National de Recherche pour l'Agriculture, l'Alimentation et l'Environnement (FR)
- Assistance Publique – Hôpitaux de Paris (FR)
- Azienda USL di Bologna (IT)
- Centre de Recherche Saint-Antoine (FR)
- University of Bologna (IT)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Cell Reports
- Published
- 2025-12-24
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2025.116726
- Citations
- 2
- Primary Topic
- Bacteriophages and microbial interactions
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 3.43