Poster #080, City of Hope
Using In Vitro Models to Evaluate Bacterial Consortia for Akkermansia muciniphila Suppression
Mentors: Aqsa Mohammed, PI: Robert Jenq, MD
Allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (allo-HCT) recipients are highly susceptible to neutropenic fever, a serious complication with mortality rates up to 30%. Prior work has linked fever onset to elevated levels of the mucus-degrading bacteria Akkermansia muciniphila, leading our lab to identify a consortium of 11 bacterial species significantly enriched in fever-free patients. Allo-HCT models in mice confirmed that introduction of the consortium suppressed A. muciniphila, though quantifying engraftment demonstrated only 6 of the 11 strains could be identified in mice. Using an in-vitro bioreactor model, this project tests how consortium size and composition, specifically the reduction from 11 strains to 6 alongside other prebiotic candidates, affect A. muciniphila suppression, quantifying A. muciniphila levels via qPCR and tracking consortium abundance via 16S rRNA sequencing. Results will allow differentiation of A. muciniphila suppression across varying consortia, which could inform development of a targeted probiotic to reduce neutropenic fever incidence in allo-HCT recipients.