Back to results

The role of epigenetics in the regulation of expression of NOD-like receptors (NLRs) in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)

Patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) present at the clinic with inflammation in different regions of their gastrointestinal tract. IBD is a term that describes conditions with chronic or recurring immune response and inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract. The two most common of these are ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn’s disease (CD). Both illnesses are marked by an abnormal response by the body’s immune system. NOD-like receptors (NLR) are proteins responsible for increasing the amount of inflammation in the colon. The objective of this project is to determine the expression of these receptors in IBD patients. We hypothesize that epigenetic regulation of these NLRs in the inflammatory environment of the epithelial cells is critical to disease progression. Epigenetic regulation is a versatile method affecting which proteins are expressed without causing changes to the DNA which codes for these proteins. There are a growing number of human diseases that are known to occur when this epigenetic information is not properly established and/or maintained. For IBD patients epigenetic investigations hold tremendous potential as these changes are potentially reversible. Consequently, there is considerable growing interest in exploring ways of pharmacologically reversing these epigenetic abnormalities for therapeutic benefits.