The inhibition of lipid absorption in
digestive system is an effective strategy in obesity treatment.
Pancreatic Lipase inhibitor (PLI) peptides, as novel anti-obesity
agents, are currently under focus. In the present study we used a yeast
surface display system to express PLI peptides in probiotic yeast Saccharomyces boulardii.
Using bioinformatic approaches, two PLIs were chosen and accordingly,
two different gene cassettes encoding surface GFP-PLI fusion proteins
were successfully expressed in S. boulardii. The results of in vitro PL inhibition assay indicated a significant dose-dependent effect for both recombinant S. boulardii-PLI1 and 2 with IC50 of 106 and 104
cells/ reaction, respectively. The biological activity of these
recombinant probiotics was examined in a rat model of obesity. The oral
administration of recombinant yeasts (109 yeast
cells/rat/day) resulted in significant weight loss and reduced serum
lipids in treated animals. Our results indicate the potential
application of such engineered strains in treating obesity.