National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases 5R01DK131133-05

Role of epithelial ROS signaling in mediating psychological stress-induced mucosal dysfunction and colitis predisposition

NIH-funded research project studying how epithelial ROS signaling mediates stress-induced gut mucosal dysfunction and predisposes to colitis, focusing on interactions between intestinal epithelial cells and gut microbiota.

Description

This project focuses on understanding how cells that line the intestine (epithelial cells) interact with the resident microbes that are harbored in the gut (the gut microbiota) in response to stress. It hypothesizes that changes to epithelial cell physiology set off a cascade of host-gut microbiota interactions that predispose individuals to increased risk for infectious and immune-mediated colitis. The research investigates the role of epithelial reactive oxygen species (ROS) signaling in stress-induced gut mucosal dysfunction and colitis predisposition, exploring how stress hormones prime intestinal epithelial cells to produce ROS, leading to dysbiosis and mucus layer degradation, which may underlie inflammatory bowel disease susceptibility.

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