inflammatory bowel disease Archives
Mathers Foundation award supports study of bacterial physiology
Mar. 23, 2023—Vanderbilt's Wenhan Zhu, PhD, has received a three-year award from the G. Harold and Leila Y. Mathers Foundation to support his research that aims to answer a fundamental question about bacterial physiology and engineer probiotics to improve gut inflammatory diseases.
Vanderbilt researchers discover how gut inflammation leads to bone loss
Aug. 25, 2022—Gastrointestinal inflammation, such as occurs in inflammatory bowel disease, triggers the expansion of a population of “bone-eating” cells, leading to bone loss.
CRISPR screen identifies new anti-inflammatory drug target
Nov. 11, 2021—A novel CRISPR screen developed by Vanderbilt researchers identified a promising new target for anti-inflammatory therapeutics.
Probiotic protection
Mar. 4, 2021—A probiotic factor given early in life to mice prevented intestinal inflammation in adulthood, providing a rationale for probiotic intervention in individuals at high risk of developing inflammatory bowel disease.
Host-microbe interactions in the gut
Aug. 13, 2019—Vanderbilt investigators demonstrated that intestinal cells promote beneficial microbe behavior — the findings support developing microbiota-based therapies for intestinal health.
Intestinal immune cell interactions
Jul. 30, 2019—Understanding the roles of various immune cells that reside in the gut lining could shed light on inflammatory bowel diseases.
Lighting up colorectal cancer
Feb. 28, 2019—A nanobeacon imaging agent that binds specifically to colorectal cancer cells may aid the early detection of cancer during colonoscopy.
Novel insights on “leaky” gut
Jul. 19, 2018—A protein involved in binding cells together helps maintain the integrity of the intestinal mucosa and plays a protective role in ulcerative colitis.
Lineage tracing in the gut
Nov. 30, 2017—Vanderbilt investigators have developed an algorithm to classify cell types from experimental data, making it possible to understand how organs develop.
Gut response to fluid flow
Oct. 26, 2017—Vanderbilt researchers have discovered that microvilli – finger-like projections from cells in the intestine – respond to the shear stress of fluid flow to drive a cellular pathway that regulates nutrient balance.
EGF receptor found to regulate macrophage inflammation in gut
Oct. 13, 2016—Researchers at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine have uncovered a link between epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) signaling and the inflammatory response to bacterial infection in the gastrointestinal tract.
Study explores protein’s role in inflammation-associated cancer
Jul. 23, 2015—An antioxidant protein may protect against colon cancer that develops in patients with inflammatory bowel disease, suggesting new strategies for reducing colon cancer risk in these patients.