The vaginal microbiome a community of bacteria residing in the vaginal tract plays a crucial role in guarding against infections and maintaining reproductive health. A loss of beneficial bacteria like Lactobacillus can increase the risk of conditions such as bacterial vaginosis sexually transmitted infections and even preterm birth.

Although it's been recognized that bacteria adhere to glycans on vaginal cells the specific glycans involved and their influence on bacterial behavior have remained largely unclear.

To address this the research team developed a custom glycan microarray that replicates the vaginal glycan environment allowing them to systematically study how various bacteria interact with it.The study revealed that different bacteria have distinct glycan-binding preferences pathogens like E. coli, Streptococcus agalactiae and Fusobacterium nucleatum interacted with different sugars compared to beneficial Lactobacillus crispatus. It also showed that shifts in vaginal pH can influence bacterial attachment to glycans potentially raising infection risks. Importantly beneficial Lactobacillus species can outcompete pathogens by binding to the same glycans offering protective effects. The team’s custom glycan microarray enabled direct screening of whole bacterial cells both harmful and probiotic.
This tool opens doors to developing glycan-based diagnostics and therapeutics aimed at supporting women’s health.

While the glycan microarray platform is a powerful tool for studying bacterial binding it doesn’t fully capture the complexity of living systems. To bridge this gap researchers are developing more advanced arrays incorporating mucins complex molecules naturally present in vaginal fluid to better mimic real biological conditions.

They are also exploring how bacteria alter the glycans they attach to and how these modifications influence immune responses and competition among microbes over time.

This research represents a major step forward in understanding microbe-host interactions at the molecular level. By identifying how bacteria bind to specific sugars in the vaginal environment the findings could lead to probiotic or glycan-based therapies that support a healthy microbiome tools for assessing infection risk and personalized treatment strategies. Ultimately this work may help reduce complications like preterm birth and guide future glycan-centered health innovations.

Source: https://www.imperial.ac.uk/news/265414/shedding-light-bacteria-glycans-interact-reproductive/