美国哈佛大学Tao Wei团队报道了口服水凝胶微球介导的硒蛋白原位合成，对肠道免疫和微生物群的调节作用。相关研究成果发表在2023年5月19日出版的国际知名学术期刊《美国化学会杂志》。

Title: Oral Hydrogel Microbeads-Mediated In Situ Synthesis of Selenoproteins for Regulating Intestinal Immunity and Microbiota

Author: Jiang Ouyang, Bo Deng, Binhua Zou, Yongjiang Li, Qingyue Bu, Yuan Tian, Mingkai Chen, Wei Chen, Na Kong, Tianfeng Chen, Wei Tao

Issue&Volume: May 19, 2023

Abstract: Selenoprotein plays a crucial role in immune cells and inflammatory regulation. However, as a protein drug that is easily denatured or degraded in the acidic environment of the stomach, efficient oral delivery of selenoprotein is a great challenge. Herein, we innovated an oral hydrogel microbeads-based biochemical strategy that can in situ synthesize selenoproteins, therefore bypassing the necessity and harsh conditions for oral protein delivery while effectively generating selenoproteins for therapeutic applications. The hydrogel microbeads were synthesized by coating hyaluronic acid-modified selenium nanoparticles with a protective shell of calcium alginate (SA) hydrogel. We tested this strategy in mice with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), one of the most representative diseases related to intestinal immunity and microbiota. Our results revealed that hydrogel microbeads-mediated in situ synthesis of selenoproteins could prominently reduce proinflammatory cytokines secretion and mediate immune cells (e.g., reduce neutrophils and monocytes and increase immune regulatory T cells) to effectively relieve colitis-associated symptoms. This strategy was also able to regulate gut microbiota composition (increase probiotics abundance and suppress detrimental communities) to maintain intestinal homeostasis. Considering intestinal immunity and microbiota widely associated with cancers, infections, inflammations, etc., this in situ selenoprotein synthesis strategy might also be possibly applied to broadly tackle various diseases.

DOI: 10.1021/jacs.3c02179

Source: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/jacs.3c02179