IBD tagged posts

A team of researchers led by a biomedical scientist at the University of California, Riverside, has identified a novel mechanism by which loss-of-function mutations in the gene PTPN2, found in many patients with inflammatory bowel disease, or IBD, affect how intestinal epithelial cells maintain a barrier.

The intestinal epithelium, a single layer of cells, plays a critical role in human health by providing a barrier while also allowing nutrient and water absorption. Intestinal epithelial cells are needed for regulating immune function, communicating with the intestinal microbiota, and protecting the gut from pathogen infection – all of which critically depend on an intact epithelial barrier.

Affecting roughly 3 million Americans, IBD is a set of chronic intestinal diseases in wh...

Human intestinal organoids (HIOs) generated in the hydrogel matrix differentiate into mature intestinal tissue and present specialized human intestinal cell types, such as enteroendocrine cells (CHGA; red), after transplantation into an animal. Credit: Ricardo Cruz-Acuña, Georgia Tech

By combining engineered polymeric materials known as hydrogels with complex intestinal tissue known as organoids – made from human pluripotent stem cells – researchers have taken an important step toward creating a new technology for controlling the growth of these organoids and using them for treating wounds in the gut that can be caused by disorders such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)...

This image is a mouse intestinal organoid, or “mini-gut,” used to study epithelial cell barrier function in ongoing inflammatory bowel disease and cancer studies. Photo courtesy of Coy Allen. Credit: Virginia Tech

Could inflammatory bowel disease and colon cancer be prevented by changing the shape of a single protein? There is an intimate link between uncontrolled inflammation in the gut associated with inflammatory bowel disease and the eventual development of colon cancer. This uncontrolled inflammation is associated with changes in bacteria populations in the gut, which can invade the mucosal tissue after damage to the protective cellular barrier lining the tissue.
But Virginia Tech researchers found that modifying the shape of IRAK-M, a protein that controls inflammation, can significa...

Highlights •PKCλ/ι is required for Paneth cell differentiation •PKCλ/ι reduces EZH2 stability and promotes Atoh1 and Gfi1 expression •PKCλ/ι induces intestinal epithelial cell survival through the repression of JNK •PKCλ/ι loss enhances intestinal inflammation and cancer

A promising new target for future drugs to treat inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) has been found. The study also indicates that another protein, protein kinase C (PKC) λ/ι, may serve as a biomarker of IBD severity. “The intestine is protected by specialized cells, called Paneth cells, that secrete antimicrobial peptides,” said Jorge Moscat, Ph.D., deputy director and professor in the NCI-designated Cancer Center...