Membrane vesicles of Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus JB-1 contain immunomodulatory lipoteichoic acid and are endocytosed by intestinal epithelial cells

Intestinal bacteria have diverse and complex influence on their host. Evidence is accumulating that this may be mediated in part by bacterial extracellular membrane vesicles (MV), nanometer-sized particles important for intercellular communication. Little is known about the composition of MV from gram-positive beneficial bacteria nor how they interact with intestinal epithelial cells (IEC). Here we demonstrate that MV from Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus JB-1 are endocytosed in a likely clathrin-dependent manner by both mouse and human IEC in vitro and by mouse IEC in vivo. We further show that JB-1 MV contain lipoteichoic acid (LTA) that activates Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) and induces immunoregulatory interleukin-10 expression by dendritic cells in an internalization-dependent manner. By contrast, neither LTA nor TLR2 appear to be required for JB-1 MV endocytosis by IEC. These results demonstrate a novel mechanism by which bacterial MV can influence host physiology and suggest one potential route for beneficial influence of certain bacteria and probiotics.

Automated summary

Intestinal bacteria may influence host physiology by activating TLR2 and inducing IL-10 expression, and LTA appears to not be a necessary factor for MV endocytosis by IEC, in contrast to TLR2.