Therapeutic administration of the recombinant antimicrobial peptide microcin J25 effectively enhances host defenses against gut inflammation and epithelial barrier injury induced by enterotoxigenic <i>Escherichia coli</i> infection

Abstract

Recombinant antimicrobial peptide microcin J25 (MccJ25) causes potent antimicrobial activity against enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) in vitro; however, independently of this activity, its role in suppressing intestinal inflammation and epithelial barrier injury in vivo remains unclear. We investigated the therapeutic effects of MccJ25 on intestinal inflammation and epithelial barrier dysfunction and the underlying mechanism, using gentamicin for comparison. In a mouse model of intestinal inflammation, therapeutic administration of either MccJ25 or gentamicin after ETEC K88 infection attenuated clinical symptoms, reduced intestinal pathogen colonization, improved intestinal morphology, and decreased inflammatory pathologies and intestinal permeability, ultimately improving the hosts' health. MccJ25 also attenuated ETEC-induced mouse intestinal barrier dysfunction by enhancing tight junction proteins (TJPs). Using the human epithelial cell line Caco-2, we verified the epithelial barrier-strengthening and mucosal injury-alleviating effects of MccJ25 on ETEC infection: increased expression of TJPs by activating the p38/MAPK pathway, balancing the microbiota, and improving short-chain fatty acid concentrations in the cecum of ETEC-infected mice. Although gentamicin and MccJ25 had similar effects in the inflamed gut, MccJ25 was superior to gentamicin with regard to defending the host from ETEC infection. Overall, MccJ25 may be a promising therapeutic drug for treating enteric pathogen-induced intestinal inflammation diseases.