Adelfia Talà, Flora Guerra, Silvia Caterina Resta, Matteo Calcagnile, Amilcare Barca, Salvatore Maurizio Tredici, Maria Dolores De Donno, Mirco Vacca, Marina Liso, Marcello Chieppa, Maria De Angelis, Tiziano Verri, Maria Giuseppina Bozzetti, Cecilia Bucci, Pietro Alifano
Winnie, a mouse carrying a missense mutation in the MUC2 mucin gene, is a valuable model for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) with signs and symptoms that have multiple similarities with those observed in patients with ulcerative colitis. MUC2 mucin is present in Winnie, but is not firmly compacted in a tight inner layer. Indeed, these mice develop chronic intestinal inflammation due to the primary epithelial defect with signs of mucosal damage, including thickening of muscle and mucosal layers, goblet cell loss, increased intestinal permeability, enhanced susceptibility to luminal inflammation-inducing toxins, and alteration of innervation in the distal colon...
June 22, 2022: Inflammation