Northumbria University academics
have been awarded £1.2m to further their research into how viruses carried
naturally in breast milk can potentially be used to promote gut health in
premature babies.
The researchers, who will work in
collaboration with colleagues from the University of Liverpool and The
Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, will explore how
bacteriophages – viruses that can infect and alter or destroy bacteria – can be
bound with the naturally occurring fats in mother’s breast milk.
Their hope is that they can then be
given to premature babies to help the development of gut microbial communities
that support health.
The gut microbiome contains helpful
bacteria that supports digestion and immunity, but as it is not fully developed
in pre-term infants, they can often face serious complications with their gut
health and gastrointestinal tract.
Conditions such as necrotising
enterocolitis and late onset sepsis can be life-threatening and are one of the
most common causes of death in the first weeks of life for premature babies,
yet their causes are still not fully understood.
The new project will explore how
these bacteriophages and fats, known as lipids, in breast milk interact
together and also with the human body that receives them. This will give
researchers a better understanding of how bacteriophages can be given to premature
babies to improve their gut health and reduce the risk of life-threatening
illnesses.
The research builds on an earlier study with children’s charity, Action Medical
Research, in which 99 mothers of premature babies born at Newcastle’s Royal
Victoria Infirmary donated breast milk. These samples were analysed to identify
the core bacteriophages and fats present in the mother’s milk supply.
In this study, the researchers
found that bacteriophages are abundant from the first week and throughout the
first 100 days of lactation and can be associated with lipids in the milk.
The funding for the study was
awarded by the UKRI Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), some of
the work will being carried out in the NU-OMICS DNA
Sequencing Research Facility at Northumbria University. NU-OMICS is a
state-of-the-art research-led service that works with both academia and
industry to provide DNA sequencing solutions on a wide range of projects.
Professor Darren Smith, Professor
of Bacteriophage Biology in Northumbria University’s Department of Applied
Sciences, is leading the study. He said: “We’re extremely excited to have
received this award from the BBSRC. This research could really make a difference
in understanding how carriage of phages in mother’s own milk
and their relationship to infant health. Special thanks have to go to the
supportive families and clinical teams that make this research possible.
“While this specific study focuses
on the application in tackling complications in pre-term infant gut
development, these approaches could have a much broader application with
phage-lipid complexes helping to store and deliver phages in the treatment of infection
in humans, animals and agriculture.
Professor
Smith added: “The gut microbiome in preterm babies is less complex so it’s a
good model to study how phage-lipid complexes affect bacterial community
structure and overall microbiome development more fully. It could also help us
to better understand the impact of introducing phages on dampening or heightening immune
responses and their potential application in mainstream treatment to engineer
microbial systems.”
The team will explore whether these
lipids slow the release of phages in the preterm gut and modify their
interaction with bacteria. This understanding could be used to regulate the
microbiome by limiting the growth of harmful bacteria and promote others to
thrive in a controlled way.
BBSRC’s responsive mode award,
which aims to provide simpler, more agile and dynamic targeting for funding of
particular areas of timely strategic interest, opportunity or need, will see
the Northumbria University team, which also includes project co-investigators Dr Andrew Nelson and Dr Wen Chyin Yew, work alongside
Professor Janet Berrington, a consultant in neonatal medicine at the Royal
Victoria Infirmary, The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, and
Professor of Pharmacology and Immunocompatibility, Neill Liptrott at the
University of Liverpool.
Speaking on the project Professor
Liptrott said: “Ensuring the safety of bacteriophages, especially
concerning immune responses, is crucial for their practical clinical
application. This project will benefit significantly from our research on
complex medicines and materials, mainly as Liverpool is at the forefront of
innovation in therapeutics, including lipid-immune interactions and developing
relevant models.
“Supported by BBSRC, this research
has the potential to revolutionise our approach to managing life-threatening
infections, starting with protecting the most vulnerable groups—premature
infants. Moreover, this project is the initial step in a larger collaborative
initiative focused on bacteriophage-immune interactions with Prof. Smith and is
already progressing well.”
Professor
Anne Ferguson-Smith, BBSRC Executive Chair, said: “This pioneering research
exemplifies the vital role bioscience plays in improving health outcomes from
the very start of life. By investigating how natural components of breast milk
can be harnessed to support the delicate gut microbiome of premature babies,
this project has the potential to unlock life-saving interventions for some of
our most vulnerable infants. BBSRC is proud to support this work, which brings
together cutting-edge science and clinical collaboration to tackle complex
challenges in neonatal health.”
NU-OMICS
DNA sequencing research facility is based in the Department of Applied Sciences at Northumbria University. The department has
an extensive portfolio of research subjects including biology, biomedical sciences, chemistry, forensic science, food and
nutritional sciences. Our academics are nationally and internationally renowned
within their fields. Our research in this area is ranked 8th in the UK for research power (2021 Research Excellence
Framework), with the highest possible rating for our research environment and
the highest rating for research impact across the university.
