🔥 Then, we engineered the probiotic Escherichia coli Nissle 1917 (EcN) to produce these heparin lyases. The result? It effectively blocked SARS-CoV-2 binding and infection in human cell cultures!

🦠 We tested two common gut bacteria: Bacteroides ovatus and Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron. Both could use heparin as their sole carbon source and their culture supernatants blocked SARS-CoV-2 spike binding!

💡This made us wonder: Could these bacteria impact SARS-CoV-2's ability to infect cells? First, using a metabolic task analysis of multiple large microbiome datasets, we found that heparan sulfate modifying bacteria are inversely enriched according to host age, sex, but not diet.

🔬The gut is a replication reservoir for SARS-CoV-2, and people with GI symptoms often face more severe illness. The virus relies on heparan sulfate proteoglycans in the intestine’s protective layer (glycocalyx) to enter cells. Interestingly, gut bacteria can alter heparan sulfate …