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.