American Journal of Physiology. Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology

Macrophages are critical mediators of intestinal defense and homeostasis. However, uncontrolled pro-inflammatory macrophage activity may contribute to chronic conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease. Currently, the regulatory feedback mechanisms restraining pro-inflammatory cytokine production in activated macrophages are not well understood. The ErbB4 receptor tyrosine kinase is induced on macrophages by pro-inflammatory stimulation, and chronic ErbB4 activation with its ligand NRG4 drives macrophage apoptosis after 2 days...

Treg-deficiency causes a lethal, CD4+ T cell-driven autoimmune disease called IPEX syndrome in humans and in the scurfy (SF) mouse, a mouse model of the disease. Feeding Limosilactobacillus reuteri DSM 17938 (LR 17938, LR) to SF mice reprograms the gut microbiota, reduces disease progression, and prolongs lifespan. However, the efficacy and mechanism of LR, compared to other probiotics, in producing these effects is unknown. We compared LR with Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus GG (LGG), an extensively investigated probiotic...

Grb2-associated binder 1 (Gab1) is an adaptor protein that is important for intracellular signal transduction by receptor tyrosine kinases that are receptors for various growth factors and plays an important role in rapid liver regeneration after partial hepatectomy and during acute hepatitis. On the other hand, mild liver regeneration is induced in livers of individuals with chronic hepatitis, where hepatocyte apoptosis is persistent; however, the impact of Gab1 on such livers remains unclear. We examined the role of Gab1 in chronic hepatitis...

The water-soluble vitamin B1 is essential for normal human health and physiology. In its main biologically active form, i.e., thiamin pyrophosphate (TPP), the vitamin plays many critical roles in cell metabolism; thus, its deficiency leads to a variety of adverse effects. Humans/mammals obtain vitamin B1 from two exogenous sources: diet and gut microbiota. Considerable amount of the microbiota-generated vitamin B1 exists in the form of TPP, and colonocytes can efficiently absorb this TPP via a high-affinity and specific carrier-mediated mechanism that involves the recently cloned colonic TPP transporter (cTPPT; product of SLC44A4 gene)...

In recent years, organoids have become a novel in vitro method to study gastrointestinal organ development, physiology and disease. An organoid, in short, may be defined as a miniaturized organ that can be grown from adult stem cells in vitro and studied at the microscopic level. Organoids have been used in multitudes of different ways to study the physiology of different human diseases including gastrointestinal cancers such as pancreatic cancer. The development of genome editing based on the bacterial defense mechanism CRISPR/Cas9 has emerged as laboratory tool that provides the opportunity to study the effects of specific genetic changes on organ development, physiology and disease...

BACKGROUND: Defective barrier function is a predisposing factor in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and colitis-associated cancer (CAC). While TGFβ signaling defects have been associated with IBD and CAC, few studies have examined the relationship between TGFβ and intestinal barrier function. Here, we examine the role of TGFβ signaling via SMAD4 in modulation of colon barrier function. METHODS: The Smad4 gene was conditionally deleted in the intestines of adult mice and intestinal permeability assessed using an in vivo 4kD FITC-Dextran (FD4) permeability assay...

Genetic knockout (KO) of peptide transporter-1 (PepT1) protein is known to provide resistance to acute colitis and colitis-associated cancer (CAC) in mouse models. However, it was unclear which molecule(s) or pathway(s) formed the basis for these protective effects. Recently, we demonstrated that the PepT1-/- microbiota is sufficient to protect against colitis and CAC. Given that PepT1 KO alters the gut microbiome and thereby changes the intestinal metabolites that are ultimately reflected in the feces, we investigated the fecal metabolites of our PepT1 KO mice...

Vitamin D/vitamin D receptor (VDR) signaling is reported to have a protective effect on the onset or progression of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) and hypoxia-inducible factor 1α (HIF-1α) activation is demonstrated to be closely associated with chemical-induced colitis. However, the association between vitamin D/VDR signaling and HIF-1α on IBD development remains a mystery. Here, we showed that HIF-1α expression was largely increased in the colonic epithelial cells of diseased tissues from ulcerative colitis (UC) patients...

The meticulous regulation of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract is required for the co-ordination of gastric motility and emptying, intestinal secretion, absorption, and transit as well as for the overarching management of food intake and energy homeostasis. Disruption of GI functions is associated with the development of severe GI disorders as well as the alteration of food intake and caloric balance. Functional GI disorders as well as the dysregulation of energy balance and food intake are frequently associated with, or result from, alterations in the central regulation of GI control...

Background Intestinal failure-associated liver disease is a major morbidity associated with short bowel syndrome. We sought to determine if the obesity-resistant mouse strain (129S1/SvImJ) conferred protection from liver injury after small bowel resection (SBR). Methods Using a parenteral nutrition-independent model of resection-associated liver injury, C57BL/6J and 129S1/SvImJ mice underwent a 50% proximal SBR or sham operation. At post-operative week 10, hepatic steatosis, fibrosis, and cholestasis were assessed...

INTRODUCTION: Sarcopenia worsens survival in patients with advanced liver disease including cirrhosis. In this study we aimed to characterize skeletal muscle status by Dual-energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DXA) in patients with cirrhosis and examine the association between different skeletal muscle compartments and mortality. METHODS: We included 231 men and 84 women (Child A, B, and C) with cirrhosis and 315 healthy matched controls (231 men and 84 women). Body composition was assessed with DXA...

Calorie restriction is a primary dietary intervention demonstrated over many decades in cellular and animal models to modulate aging pathways, positively affect age-associated diseases, and, in clinical studies, to promote beneficial health outcomes. Because long-term compliance with daily calorie restriction has proven problematic in humans several intermittent fasting (IF) regimens, including alternate day fasting (ADF) and time-restricted feeding (TRF), have evolved revealing similar clinical benefits as calorie restriction...

Mechanosensation, the ability to properly sense mechanical stimuli and transduce them into physiologic responses, is an essential determinant of gastrointestinal (GI) function. Abnormalities in this process result in highly prevalent GI functional and motility disorders. In the GI tract, several cell types sense mechanical forces and transduce them into electrical signals, which elicit specific cellular responses. Some mechanosensitive cells like sensory neurons act as specialized mechanosensitive cells that detect forces and transduce signals into tissue-level physiologic reactions...

Visceral smooth muscle is a crucial component of the walls of hollow organs like the gut, bladder, and uterus. This specialized smooth muscle has unique properties that distinguish it from other muscle types and that facilitate robust dilation and contraction. Visceral myopathies are diseases where severe visceral smooth muscle dysfunction prevents efficient movement of air and nutrients though the bowel, impairs bladder emptying, and affects normal uterine contraction and relaxation, particularly during pregnancy...

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Liver injury and the Unfolded Protein Response (UPR) are tightly linked, but their relationship differs with cell-type and injurious stimuli. UPR initiation promotes hepatic stellate cell (HSC) activation and fibrogenesis, but the underlying mechanisms are unclear. Despite the complexity and overlap downstream of UPR transducers IRE1α, ATF6α, and PERK, previous research in HSCs primarily focused on IRE1α. Here, we interrogated the fibrogenic role of ATF6α or PERK in vitro and HSC-specific UPR signaling in vivo...

The Hedgehog (Hh) signaling pathway is correlated with hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) activation and liver fibrosis. Gli2 is a key transcription effector of Hh signaling. However, the role of Gli2 in HSC-mediated liver fibrosis progression is largely unknown. In the present study, we investigated the effect of Gli2 on liver fibrogenesis and its possible mechanism using conditional knockout (cKO) Gli2 mice and HSC models. Wild-type (WT) and GFAP-CreERT;Gli2flox/flox male mice were exposed to CCl4 for one month to induce liver fibrosis...

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is typified by accumulating excess liver triacylglycerol, inflammation, and liver dysfunction. This study was aimed to investigate the role of mitochondrial DNA synthesis-induced activation of Absent in melanoma 2 (AIM2) inflammasome and pyroptosis in NAFLD. Mice were raised on a high-fat diet for 24 weeks to establish NAFLD models. F4/80 immunofluorescence was performed to reflect the inflammatory response in the liver of mice. Western blot, ELISA, and immunofluorescence were adopted to determine the expression of AIM2 inflammasome-related proteins and factors...

Patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are at increased risk for under recognized metabolic co-morbidities. Chronic intestinal inflammation in IBD along with changes to the gut microbiome leads to broader systemic effects. Despite the existence of multiple animal models to study colitis, limited studies have examined the metabolic abnormalities associated with these models. In this study, a spontaneous model of colitis (mucin 2 knock-out mouse, Muc2-/-) was used to investigate the impact of intestinal disease on metabolic dysfunction...

Gastric emptying and gastric accommodation play roles in generation of upper gastrointestinal symptoms. Whereas, both functions have been measured simultaneously using MRI or 99m Tc- SPECT methodology, correlation of these two functions has not been evaluated simultaneously using solid and liquid meals. To study relationships of whole or proximal stomach volumes to emptying, we concurrently measured postprandial gastric accommodation and emptying (over 4 hours) of a 111 In-labeled mixed solid and liquid meal...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Cholangiocytes express cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) which is involved in bicarbonate secretion for the protection against bile toxicity. During liver transplantation prolonged hypoxia of the graft is associated with cholangiocyte loss and biliary complications. Hypoxia is known to diminish CFTR activity in the intestine, but whether it effects CFTR activity in cholangiocytes remains unknown. Thus, the aim of this study is to investigate the effect of hypoxia on CFTR activity in intrahepatic cholangiocyte organoids (ICOs) and test drug-interventions to restore bicarbonate secretion...