Probiotic lactobacilli mediate their immunoregulatory functions in intestinal cells via modulation of H3 histone acetylation

AimsProbiotics are known to maintain intestinal homeostasis through the regulation of the immune response of the host. Hence, the role of histone modifications as epigenetic agents on immune modulations by potential probiotic bacteria has been investigated.Methods and ResultsHuman colonic epithelial cells (Caco-2) pre-treated with class I histone deacetylase (HDAC) specific inhibitor, MS-275, were incubated either with potential probiotic bacteria (Limosilactobacillus fermentum MTCC 5898 and Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus MTCC 5897) or Escherichia coli (ATCC 14948) as an inflammatory agent. Initially, transcriptional expression of potential immune-related genes (IL-6, IL-8, and hBD-2) was analyzed using RT-qPCR, and later H3 histone acetylation (H3Ac) at the promoter region of these genes was confirmed with a chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assay respectively. Potential probiotic L. fermentum (MTCC 5898) significantly suppressed (P ConclusionsPotential probiotics used in the study were found to regulate the immune response of host cells through histone acetylation in a strain-specific manner.Significance and Impact of StudyOccurrence of probiotic-mediated regulation of immune genes by H3 acetylation in a strain-specific manner.