Abstract
Akkermansia muciniphila is well known for the amelioration of inflammatory responses and restoration of intestinal barrier function. The beneficial effect of A. muciniphila occurred through contacting Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) on intestinal epithelial cells by wall components. In this case, the downstream mechanism of pasteurized A. muciniphila stimulating TLR2 for ameliorated intestinal barrier function is worth investigating. In this study, we evaluated the effect of live and pasteurized A. muciniphila on protecting the barrier dysfunction of Caco-2 intestinal epithelial cells induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS). We discovered that both live and pasteurized A. muciniphila could attenuate an inflammatory response and improve intestinal barrier integrity in Caco-2 monolayers. We demonstrated that A. muciniphila enhances AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) activation and inhibits Nuclear Factor-Kappa B (NF-κB) activation through the stimulation of TLR2. Overall, we provided a specific mechanism for the probiotic effect of A. muciniphila on the intestinal barrier function of Caco-2 cells.