Objective(s): Severe injuries are often associated with tissue hypothyroidism, elevated damaging mediators in circulation, and broken gut epithelial barrier.  However, the relationships between the hypothyroid state and gut epithelial damage are largely unknown.  Therefore, in this study, we investigated the effects of L-thyroxine (T4) on in vitro models of intact and ...

It is known that functional maturation of the small intestine occurring during the weaning period is facilitated by glucocorticoids (such as hydrocortisone, HC), including an increased expression of digestive hydrolases. However, the molecular mechanisms are not well understood, particularly in the human gut. Here we report a microarray analysis of HC-induced changes in gene expression in H4 ce...

Krüppel-like factor 4 (KLF4) is a zinc finger transcription factor that plays a vital role in regulating cell lineage differentiation during development and maintaining epithelial homeostasis in the intestine. In normal intestine, KLF4 is predominantly expressed in the differentiated epithelial cells. It has been identified as a tumor suppressor in colorectal cancer. KLF4 knockout mice demonstr...

Maintenance of intestinal mucosal epithelial integrity requires polyamines that are involved in the multiple signaling pathways controlling gene expression and different epithelial cell functions. Integrity of the intestinal epithelial barrier depends on a complex of proteins composing different intercellular junctions, including tight junctions, adherens junctions, and desmosomes. E-cadherin i...

Intestinal epithelial cell migration plays a key role in gastrointestinal mucosal barrier formation, enterocyte development, differentiation, turnover, wound healing, and adenocarcinoma metastasis. Chemokines, through engagement of their corresponding receptors, are potent mediators of directed cell migration and are critical in the establishment and regulation of innate and adaptive immune res...

Cryptosporidium parvum infects intestinal epithelial cells and does not invade deeper layers of the intestinal mucosa. Nonetheless, an inflammatory cell infiltrate that consists of neutrophils and mononuclear cells is often present in the lamina propria, which underlies the epithelium. This study investigated the host epithelial cell response to C. parvum by assessing in vitro and in vivo the e...

Mast cells regulate intestinal barrier function during disease and homeostasis. Secretion of the mast cell-specific serine protease chymase regulates homeostasis. In the present study, we employ in vitro model systems to delineate the molecular pathways involved in chymase-mediated intestinal epithelial barrier dysfunction. Chymase stimulation of intestinal epithelial (Caco-2 BBe) cell monolaye...

23 Mast cells regulate intestinal barrier function during disease and homeostasis. Homeostatic 24 regulation in vivo is through secretion of the mast cell-specific serine protease chymase. In the 25 present study, we employ in vitro model systems to delineate the molecular pathways involved in 26 chymase-mediated intestinal epithelial barrier dysfunction. Chymase stimulation of intestinal 27 ep...

Although recent studies have shown that enteric neurons control intestinal barrier function, the role of enteric glial cells (EGCs) in this control remains unknown. Therefore, our goal was to characterize the role of EGCs in the control of intestinal epithelial cell proliferation using an in vivo transgenic and an in vitro coculture model. Assessment of intestinal epithelial cell proliferation ...

Infectious and inflammatory diseases in the intestine remain a serious threat for patients world-wide. Reprogramming of intestinal epithelium towards protective effector state is important to manage inflammation immunity can be therapeutically targeted. The role epigenetic regulatory enzymes within these processes not yet defined. Here, we use mouse model that has an intestinal-epithelial speci...