Programmable Biohybrid Probiotics with Long‐Term Storage Stability for Enhanced Intestinal Microbiota Regulation and Ulcerative Colitis Treatment

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease with limited therapeutic options and high relapse rates. Live bacterial therapeutics (LBTs) offer a promising alternative by restoring mucosal integrity, modulating immunity, and rebalancing gut microbiota; however, their clinical translation is constrained by poor storage stability, low gastrointestinal survivability, and limited therapeutic functionality. Here, we report a multilevel, modular encapsulation strategy that integrates a metal-polyphenol network (MPN) and silica-based shell with iron-based metal-organic framework (MIL-101(Fe)) nanocomponents to construct a biohybrid probiotic system (Bif@FCSM(A), where "A" denotes 5-aminosalicylic acid). This hierarchical assembly forms an oxygen-shielding, mechanically reinforced shell, resulting in a 41-fold improvement in aerobic storage stability and an 871-fold enhancement in gastric survivability of the anaerobe Bifidobacterium longum. Incorporation of MIL-101(Fe) enables high-capacity drug loading and inflammation-responsive disassembly via transferrin (Tf)-mediated Fe<sup>3</sup> <sup>+</sup> chelation in inflamed colonic tissue, thereby achieving spatiotemporally controlled bacterial activation and drug release. Guided by UC transcriptomic signatures, this combinatorial design concurrently targets immune dysregulation and microbial imbalance. In a dextran sulfate sodium-induced murine UC model, Bif@FCSM(A) markedly alleviated disease severity, suppressed pro-inflammatory cytokines, restored mucosal immune homeostasis, and enriched short-chain fatty acid-producing taxa. This work establishes a programmable, pathology-responsive probiotic platform with translational potential for complex inflammatory diseases.

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Small
Published
2026-02-10
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/smll.202512736
Primary Topic
Gut microbiota and health
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article
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article

Programmable Biohybrid Probiotics with Long‐Term Storage Stability for Enhanced Intestinal Microbiota Regulation and Ulcerative Colitis Treatment

Quhuan Li, Hailin Li, Junxian Yang, Qi Lei et al.
Small
Gut microbiota and health
article

Programmable Biohybrid Probiotics with Long‐Term Storage Stability for Enhanced Intestinal Microbiota Regulation and Ulcerative Colitis Treatment

Quhuan Li, Hailin Li, Junxian Yang, Qi Lei, Liang Zhou, Kaisheng Liu, Jiani Jiang, Wei Zhu, Xia Zhang, Zhouping Tian, Jiangyan Dong
article en

Abstract

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease with limited therapeutic options and high relapse rates. Live bacterial therapeutics (LBTs) offer a promising alternative by restoring mucosal integrity, modulating immunity, and rebalancing gut microbiota; however, their clinical translation is constrained by poor storage stability, low gastrointestinal survivability, and limited therapeutic functionality. Here, we report a multilevel, modular encapsulation strategy that integrates a metal-polyphenol network (MPN) and silica-based shell with iron-based metal-organic framework (MIL-101(Fe)) nanocomponents to construct a biohybrid probiotic system (Bif@FCSM(A), where "A" denotes 5-aminosalicylic acid). This hierarchical assembly forms an oxygen-shielding, mechanically reinforced shell, resulting in a 41-fold improvement in aerobic storage stability and an 871-fold enhancement in gastric survivability of the anaerobe Bifidobacterium longum. Incorporation of MIL-101(Fe) enables high-capacity drug loading and inflammation-responsive disassembly via transferrin (Tf)-mediated Fe<sup>3</sup> <sup>+</sup> chelation in inflamed colonic tissue, thereby achieving spatiotemporally controlled bacterial activation and drug release. Guided by UC transcriptomic signatures, this combinatorial design concurrently targets immune dysregulation and microbial imbalance. In a dextran sulfate sodium-induced murine UC model, Bif@FCSM(A) markedly alleviated disease severity, suppressed pro-inflammatory cytokines, restored mucosal immune homeostasis, and enriched short-chain fatty acid-producing taxa. This work establishes a programmable, pathology-responsive probiotic platform with translational potential for complex inflammatory diseases.

Small
Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University (CN), Southern Medical University Shenzhen Hospital (CN), Shenzhen Second People's Hospital (CN), South China University of Technology (CN), Guangzhou Medical University (CN)
Openalex Percentile: Top 62%
Gut microbiota and health
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