New Hope for Treating Crohn’s Disease
More than 150,000 Canadians suffer from Chrohn’s disease, a chronic and painful inflammatory disease of the intestine. But there is no cure, and current treatments merely calm symptoms.
As Crohn’s disease becomes increasingly common, more research is needed to reveal the molecular mechanisms that cause it. If we can understand those, we may be able to discover better treatments and ways to prevent it.
Dr. Dana Philpott, Canada Research Chair in Microbe-Host Interactions in Intestinal Homeostasis, is testing whether the disease arises from stem cell dysfunction in the lining of the intestine, and if and how gut bacteria may contribute to inflammation.
Using mouse genetic models that mimic Crohn’s disease in humans, along with advanced bioengineering approaches, Philpott and her research team are focusing specifically on a family of immune-system proteins called NOD-like receptors—a group of pattern recognition receptors that are essential for detecting invading pathogens.
Philpott and her team are trying to determine how these receptors defend our bodies from infection and regulate our intestinal health as well as how they can be triggered to cause intestinal inflammation. The answers have the potential to uncover new drug targets to treat the underlying causes of intestinal inflammation.
Philpott and her team are also investigating if and how bacterial infections interact with our immune system to lead to Crohn’s disease or advance its development. In doing so, they are providing a clearer picture of how the intestinal microbiome shapes both health and disease.