Enhancing nutraceutical formulations by examining the proteome response of probiotics to intestinal human pathogens

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Consumer demand for nutritional foods that generate health benefits has driven the Canadian food and food supplement industries to produce a new generation of value-added functional foods and food additives. Functional foods often contain probiotic microorganisms that contribute to maintaining internal microbial balance and defense against pathogens. However, the changes to the gut environment caused by ingested probiotics and the subsequent effects on the resident gut microflora of both humans and animals, and potential pathogens are not well understood. The influence of the environment on a microorganism is ultimately expressed as the change to the complement of total proteins a microorganism produces, which is known as its proteome. In order to understand how probiotics can limit the effects of pathogenic bacteria, it is important to understand the relationship that exists between these different classes of bacteria and how these interactions alter the protein expression profile of the probiotics. This research project aims to assess the proteomic alterations that occur in probiotics upon exposure to common enteric and gastric pathogens. The ultimate goal is to understand how probiotics respond to pathogens in order to better select probiotics for incorporation into nutritional food supplements.