Scientists on the verge of creating oral vaccines against bowel diseases
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
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As a result of joint work, Japanese and American scientists discovered a gene that is responsible for differentiation of unexplored intestinal cells - M cells. A study of the development of these cells can help in creating an oral vaccine. The results of the work of scientists from the University of Emory (Emory University, USA) and the Center for Research of Allergy and Immunology (Japan) were published in the journal Nature Immunology.
M-cells are epithelial cells located in clusters of lymphoid nodules in the intestine (Peyer's plaques). M-cells capture bacteria from the lumen of the intestine, and then "transmit" to their lymphocytes and macrophages. They are viable only in Peyer's plaques and are therefore poorly understood.
The team of scientists managed to establish that the differentiation of M-cells corresponds to the Spi-B gene. The protein encoded by this gene belongs to transcription factors - a family of proteins that control the process of mRNA synthesis on a DNA template. It is produced in immune cells and is important for various physiological processes, including division, differentiation, development and programmed cell death (apoptosis).
The researchers found that the expression of Spi-B coincides with the beginning of the early stage of differentiation of M-cells. To determine whether this gene regulates the development of M-cells, scientists conducted experiments on model mice that did not have the Spi-B gene. In the course of the work, they found that there were no functioning M-cells in the intestine of these rodents. After the bone marrow transplantation, the M-cell functions of model animals were not restored. This meant that for the development of M cells, the Spi-B gene should be expressed in epithelial cells.
"We were very surprised when we found out that Spi-B is expressed in epithelial cells of the intestine, because this gene is known to be an important link in the development of several types of immune cells, it was previously thought that it is expressed only in them," one of the authors of the work noted.
According to scientists, information about M-cells - in particular, what molecules are present on their surface - can be used to create oral vaccines against bowel diseases. Most of today's vaccines are injected, but in some cases it is better to deliver the vaccine orally - so you can strengthen the "defenses" of the body in the place where the disease began. Also, the study of M-cells can provide information on the development and treatment of a number of bowel diseases.
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