Probiotic-based biohybrid with gastrointestinal stress resistance and ROS-scavenging capacity to treat inflammatory bowel disease

Xiaomin Chen; Haihua Ji; Danyue Zhao; Yiqun Wan; Xiuru Pan; Qi Zhou; Zuwei Liu; Feifei Xin; Jiawen Fan; Lizhi Zhou; Situ Xiong; Xinjian Lu; Xuan Lu; Hao Wan

doi:10.59717/j.xinn-mater.2026.100203

The Innovation Materials > 2026 Vol. 4 > No. 2 > 100203

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Probiotic-based biohybrid with gastrointestinal stress resistance and ROS-scavenging capacity to treat inflammatory bowel disease

1.
State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Resources, Nanchang University, Nanchang 330047, China
2.
Department of Food Science and Nutrition, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong SAR 999077, China
3.
Jiangxi Provincial Key Laboratory of Urinary System Diseases, Department of Urology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Nanchang University, Nanchang 330006, China

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Corresponding author: wanhao424@ncu.edu.cn
Received Date: October 22, 2025

Accepted Date: January 29, 2026

Published Online: January 29, 2026

The Innovation Materials 4(2), https://doi.org/10.59717/j.xinn-mater.2026.100203 | Cite this article

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1. Lp@AU@GN was bio-orthogonally fabricated.
  
  β-glucan (GN) shielded Lp from digestive insults and was metabolized into short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs).
  
  Au₂₄Cu₁/Au₂₄Cd₁ mixture (AU) scavenged reactive oxygen species (ROS) to enhance Lp viability.
  
  Oral administration of Lp@AU@GN effectively alleviated inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

ABSTRACT

ABSTRACT

Oral probiotic-based therapy has emerged as a promising solution with multifaceted benefits for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) treatment. However, their widespread and clinical utility is severely limited by the poor viability of probiotics under harsh gastrointestinal conditions and elevated oxidative stress in the inflamed intestine. To address these challenges, a probiotic-based biohybrid (Lp@AU@GN) was bio-orthogonally fabricated by covalently anchoring the gold nanocluster-based artificial enzyme (AU) to the probiotic Lactobacillus plantarum (Lp), a strain screened out with the IBD-alleviating potential, followed by covalent encapsulation with the prebiotic β-glucan (GN). Upon oral administration to mice with ulcerative colitis, GN performed as a shield to physically protect Lp from gastrointestinal stress insults. After reaching the intestine, GN was metabolized by the gut microbiota, facilitating the exposure of Lp@AU and the concurrent production of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs). The incorporated AU with superoxide dismutase- and catalase-like activities efficiently scavenged excessive reactive oxygen species in situ, neutralizing oxidative stress and simultaneously enhancing Lp survival to synergize with SCFAs to advance the therapeutic process. Consequently, therapeutic benefits of reduced inflammation, restored intestinal barrier, and rebalanced gut microbiota were achieved. Furthermore, the therapeutic utility was extended to Crohn's disease, establishing the broad-spectrum effectiveness of Lp@AU@GN for addressing both major forms of IBD. Beyond IBD, our developed modular engineering strategy holds the great potential to be adapted to fabricate diverse biohybrids for other gastrointestinal or metabolic disorders’ treatments by tuning the probiotic strain, antioxidant moiety, or prebiotic polymer.
- Oral probiotic /
- Inflammatory bowel disease /
- Gastrointestinal stress resistance /
- ROS scavenging /
- Bio-orthogonal engineering

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Chen X., Ji H., Zhao D., et al. (2026). Probiotic-based biohybrid with gastrointestinal stress resistance and ROS-scavenging capacity to treat inflammatory bowel disease. The Innovation Materials 4:100203. https://doi.org/10.59717/j.xinn-mater.2026.100203

Chen X., Ji H., Zhao D., et al. (2026). Probiotic-based biohybrid with gastrointestinal stress resistance and ROS-scavenging capacity to treat inflammatory bowel disease. The Innovation Materials 4:100203. https://doi.org/10.59717/j.xinn-mater.2026.100203

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Probiotic-based biohybrid with gastrointestinal stress resistance and ROS-scavenging capacity to treat inflammatory bowel disease

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