Jute nanocrystalline cellulose enhances stress resilience in Lactobacillus rhamnosus by modulating transcriptional homeostasis

Liangbin Li; Yuanyuan Zhang; Haiyang Chi; Chenxiao Chen; Sa Yang; Xiushi Yang; Chunsheng Hou; Yanchun Deng

doi:10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2025.145364

Jute nanocrystalline cellulose enhances stress resilience in Lactobacillus rhamnosus by modulating transcriptional homeostasis

Int J Biol Macromol. 2025 Jun 18;319(Pt 1):145364. doi: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2025.145364. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Liangbin Li¹, Yuanyuan Zhang², Haiyang Chi¹, Chenxiao Chen³, Sa Yang³, Xiushi Yang³, Chunsheng Hou⁴, Yanchun Deng⁵

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Bast Fiber Crops and Center for Southern Economic Crops, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Changsha 410205, China; Graduate School of Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China.
² Huaian Fourth People's Hospital of Jiangsu province, Huaian 223002, China.
³ Institute of Bast Fiber Crops and Center for Southern Economic Crops, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Changsha 410205, China.
⁴ Institute of Bast Fiber Crops and Center for Southern Economic Crops, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Changsha 410205, China. Electronic address: houchunsheng@caas.cn.
⁵ Institute of Bast Fiber Crops and Center for Southern Economic Crops, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Changsha 410205, China. Electronic address: dengyanchun@caas.cn.

PMID: 40541888
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2025.145364

Abstract

Probiotics, particularly Lactobacillus rhamnosus, are critical for gut health and immune function but encounter significant challenges from environmental stressors during production and gastrointestinal transit. This study demonstrated that jute-derived nanocrystalline cellulose (JNCC), a novel dietary fiber, at low doses (0.1-10 μg/mL), effectively protects L. rhamnosus against various stresses, including heat, oxidative, and antibiotic (such as kanamycin and ampicillin) treatment. Optimal protection was observed at 1 μg/mL JNCC, which preserved cellular morphology and viability under various stress conditions. Monosaccharide composition analysis revealed JNCC primarily comprising rhamnose (30.95 %), glucuronic acid (29.58 %), and galacturonic acid (20.61 %). Transcriptomic and phenotypic analyses further indicated that JNCC maintains probiotic resilience by significantly modulating the expression level of genes related to membrane protein transport and DNA integration pathways, thereby stabilizing transcriptional homeostasis. The work revealed JNCC as a promising low-dose prebiotic additive to enhance probiotic survival in implications for functional food and biomedical applications.

Keywords: Lactobacillus rhamnosus; Nanocrystalline cellulose; Stress; Transcriptional homeostasis.