ArticleNPJ biofilms and microbiomes2025
Environmental factors drive bacterial degradation of gastrointestinal mucus.
Article in NPJ biofilms and microbiomes, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed.
- Adaptation ofmSystems · 2026Article
- Gut microbiota-immune crosstalk in osteoarthritis: pathogenic mechanisms and emerging therapeutic opportunities.Frontiers in microbiology · 2026Review
- A social-architecture perspective on gut microbiota dynamics and host physiology.Frontiers in immunology · 2025Review
- Breast milk-saliva interactions in shaping early mucosal immunity.Frontiers in immunology · 2025Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The mucus layer lining the gastrointestinal tract is essential for gut health, providing a protective barrier while maintaining host-microbiome symbiosis. Its disruption is a hallmark of diseases like ulcerative colitis, yet how bacterial activity impacts mucus structure remains unclear. We developed a method to collect human-cell-derived mucus that mimics human colonic mucus and used it to investigate mucus degradation by commensal bacteria. Glycan foraging by species such as Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron and Bacteroides fragilis did not alter mucus rheology. Instead, secreted proteases were the primary drivers of degradation. Protease activity by B. fragilis and Bifidobacterium longum subsp. infantis was nutrient-dependent, while Enterococcus faecalis was further influenced by oxygen. Under oxidative stress, E. faecalis upregulated carbohydrate metabolism and virulence genes. These results reveal that bacterial mucus degradation is context-dependent and shaped by environmental factors. Our findings underscore the value of human cell-derived mucus models for understanding bacteria-mucus interactions in health and disease.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.