R01DK131990

Gut Bacterial Metallophores in the Development and Severity of Inflammatory Bowel Disease - Zinc (Zn) deficiency has emerged as a growing public health problem. In fact, an estimated 17% of the global population is deficient. Animal studies have demonstrated that even marginal zinc deprivation leads to significantly impaired physiological functions. This is especially true in the gut where zinc is required to maintain intestinal homeostasis.

Zn deficiency-mediated loss of intestinal homeostasis and microbial dysbiosis have recently been proposed as major mechanistic pathways for the development and severity of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Specifically, Zn deficiency is common in patients with IBD with a prevalence ranging from 15% to 40%, likely due to diet deficits and increased intestinal loss. In addition, a common genetic variant of the Zn transporter ZIP8 (rs13107325; A391T) has been associated with an increased risk of Crohn's disease.

In the context of gastrointestinal health, it is also notable that zinc is an essential nutrient for bacteria. As such, commensals must compete for and scavenge zinc from their host, which likely further affects the host's ability to acquire adequate levels of zinc. Bacteria utilize numerous strategies to acquire metal, such as the secretion of small molecules known as metallophores (i.e., siderophores and zincophores). Overgrowth of pathobionts, which express high levels of metallophores, is hypothesized to be one mechanism by which the microbiota contributes to IBD pathogenesis.

In this application, we propose a new paradigm in which bacterial metallophore production is a key mechanistic pathway leading to accelerated IBD disease severity/inflammation. Specifically, we hypothesize that IBD disease status is associated with a unique subset of microbial metallophores and further hypothesize that IBD-associated metallophores exacerbate disease severity. Four key findings support this hypothesis:

First, humans with the A391T allele have an increased prevalence of IBD and have significantly altered intestinal microbial communities. Second, ZIP8 393T-KI mice have increased susceptibility to chemically induced colitis. Third, microbial metallophores are associated with the development of adherent-invasive Escherichia coli (AIEC)-mediated colitis. Fourth, a novel class of zinc transporters (zincophores) are produced by a wide range of known gastrointestinal bacterial species, many of which are over-represented in IBD dysbiosis.

To test our hypothesis that bacterial zincophore production is a key mechanistic pathway leading to increased IBD disease severity, we propose three research aims:

Aim 1 will establish cross-talk between host genetics, gut microbial composition, bacterial metallophores, and dietary Zn levels as a link to IBD severity.

Aim 2 will determine and characterize the effects of bacterial metallophores on intestinal epithelial health.

Aim 3 will seek to validate the association of bacterial metallophores with IBD disease using a well-characterized IBD biobank.

Board Of Regents Of The University Of Nebraska

(1) TO PROMOTE EXTRAMURAL BASIC AND CLINICAL BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH THAT IMPROVES THE UNDERSTANDING OF THE MECHANISMS UNDERLYING DISEASE AND LEADS TO IMPROVED PREVENTIONS, DIAGNOSIS, AND TREATMENT OF DIABETES, DIGESTIVE, AND KIDNEY DISEASES. PROGRAMMATIC AREAS WITHIN THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF DIABETES AND DIGESTIVE AND KIDNEY DISEASES INCLUDE DIABETES, DIGESTIVE, ENDOCRINE, HEMATOLOGIC, LIVER, METABOLIC, NEPHROLOGIC, NUTRITION, OBESITY, AND UROLOGIC DISEASES. SPECIFIC PROGRAMS AREAS OF INTEREST INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING: (A) FOR DIABETES, ENDOCRINE, AND METABOLIC DISEASES AREAS: FUNDAMENTAL AND CLINICAL STUDIES INCLUDING THE ETIOLOGY, PATHOGENESIS, PREVENTION, DIAGNOSIS, TREATMENT AND CURE OF DIABETES MELLITUS AND ITS COMPLICATIONS, NORMAL AND ABNORMAL FUNCTION OF THE PITUITARY, THYROID, PARATHYROID, ADRENAL, AND OTHER HORMONE SECRETING GLANDS, HORMONAL REGULATION OF BONE, ADIPOSE TISSUE, AND LIVER, ON FUNDAMENTAL ASPECTS OF SIGNAL TRANSDUCTION, INCLUDING THE ACTION OF HORMONES, COREGULATORS, AND CHROMATIN REMODELING PROTEINS, HORMONE BIOSYNTHESIS, SECRETION, METABOLISM, AND BINDING, AND ON HORMONAL REGULATION OF GENE EXPRESSION AND THE ROLE(S) OF SELECTIVE RECEPTOR MODULATORS AS PARTIAL AGONISTS OR ANTAGONISTS OF HORMONE ACTION, AND FUNDAMENTAL STUDIES RELEVANT TO METABOLIC DISORDERS INCLUDING MEMBRANE STRUCTURE, FUNCTION, AND TRANSPORT PHENOMENA AND ENZYME BIOSYNTHESIS, AND BASIC AND CLINICAL STUDIES ON THE ETIOLOGY, PATHOGENESIS, PREVENTION, AND TREATMENT OF INHERITED METABOLIC DISORDERS (SUCH AS CYSTIC FIBROSIS). (B) FOR DIGESTIVE DISEASE AND NUTRITION AREAS: GENETICS AND GENOMICS OF THE GI TRACT AND ITS DISEASES, GENETICS AND GENOMICS OF LIVER/PANCREAS AND DISEASES, GENETICS AND GENOMICS OF NUTRITION, GENETICS AND GENOMICS OF OBESITY, BARIATRIC SURGERY, CLINICAL NUTRITION RESEARCH, CLINICAL OBESITY RESEARCH, COMPLICATIONS OF CHRONIC LIVER DISEASE, FATTY LIVER DISEASE, GENETIC LIVER DISEASE, HIV AND LIVER, CELL INJURY, REPAIR, FIBROSIS AND INFLAMMATION IN THE LIVER, LIVER CANCER, LIVER TRANSPLANTATION, PEDIATRIC LIVER DISEASE, VIRAL HEPATITIS AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES, GASTROINTESTINAL AND NUTRITION EFFECTS OF AIDS, GASTROINTESTINAL MUCOSAL AND IMMUNOLOGY, GASTROINTESTINAL MOTILITY, BASIC NEUROGASTROENTEROLOGY, GASTROINTESTINAL DEVELOPMENT, GASTROINTESTINAL EPITHELIAL BIOLOGY, GASTROINTESTINAL INFLAMMATION, DIGESTIVE DISEASES EPIDEMIOLOGY AND DATA SYSTEMS, NUTRITIONAL EPIDEMIOLOGY AND DATA SYSTEMS, AUTOIMMUNE LIVER DISEASE, BILE, BILIRUBIN AND CHOLESTASIS, BIOENGINEERING AND BIOTECHNOLOGY RELATED TO DIGESTIVE DISEASES, LIVER, NUTRITION AND OBESITY, CELL AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY OF THE LIVER, DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY AND REGENERATION, DRUG-INDUCED LIVER DISEASE, GALLBLADDER DISEASE AND BILIARY DISEASES, EXOCRINE PANCREAS BIOLOGY AND DISEASES, GASTROINTESTINAL NEUROENDOCRINOLOGY, GASTROINTESTINAL TRANSPORT AND ABSORPTION, NUTRIENT METABOLISM, PEDIATRIC CLINICAL OBESITY, CLINICAL TRIALS IN DIGESTIVE DISEASES, LIVER CLINICAL TRIALS, OBESITY PREVENTION AND TREATMENT, AND OBESITY AND EATING DISORDERS. (C) FOR KIDNEY, UROLOGIC AND HEMATOLOGIC DISEASES AREAS: STUDIES OF THE DEVELOPMENT, PHYSIOLOGY, AND CELL BIOLOGY OF THE KIDNEY, PATHOPHYSIOLOGY OF THE KIDNEY, GENETICS OF KIDNEY DISORDERS, IMMUNE MECHANISMS OF KIDNEY DISEASE, KIDNEY DISEASE AS A COMPLICATION OF DIABETES, EFFECTS OF DRUGS, NEPHROTOXINS AND ENVIRONMENTAL TOXINS ON THE KIDNEY, MECHANISMS OF KIDNEY INJURY REPAIR, IMPROVED DIAGNOSIS, PREVENTION AND TREATMENT OF CHRONIC KIDNEY DISEASE AND END-STAGE RENAL DISEASE, IMPROVED APPROACHES TO MAINTENANCE DIALYSIS THERAPIES, BASIC STUDIES OF LOWER URINARY TRACT CELL BIOLOGY, DEVELOPMENT, PHYSIOLOGY, AND PATHOPHYSIOLOGY, CLINICAL STUDIES OF BLADDER DYSFUNCTION, INCONTINENCE, PYELONEPHRITIS, INTERSTITIAL CYSTITIS, BENIGN PROSTATIC HYPERPLASIA, UROLITHIASIS, AND VESICOURETERAL REFLUX, DEVELOPMENT OF NOVEL DIAGNOSTIC TOOLS AND IMPROVED THERAPIES, INCLUDING TISSUE ENGINEERING STRATEGIES, FOR UROLOGIC DISORDERS,RESEARCH ON HEMATOPOIETIC CELL DIFFERENTIATION, METABOLISM OF IRON OVERLOAD AND DEFICIENCY, STRUCTURE, BIOSYNTHESIS AND GENETIC REGULATION OF HEMOGLOBIN, AS WELL AS RESEARCH ON THE ETIOLOGY, PATHOGENESIS, AND THERAPEUTIC MODALITIES FOR THE ANEMIA OF INFLAMMATION AND CHRONIC DISEASES. (2) TO ENCOURAGE BASIC AND CLINICAL RESEARCH TRAINING AND CAREER DEVELOPMENT OF SCIENTISTS DURING THE EARLY STAGES OF THEIR CAREERS. THE RUTH L. KIRSCHSTEIN NATIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE AWARD (NRSA) FUNDS BASIC AND CLINICAL RESEARCH TRAINING, SUPPORT FOR CAREER DEVELOPMENT, AND THE TRANSITION FROM POSTDOCTORAL BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH TRAINING TO INDEPENDENT RESEARCH RELATED TO DIABETES, DIGESTIVE, ENDOCRINE, HEMATOLOGIC, LIVER, METABOLIC, NEPHROLOGIC, NUTRITION, OBESITY, AND UROLOGIC DISEASES. (3) TO EXPAND AND IMPROVE THE SMALL BUSINESS INNOVATION RESEARCH (SBIR) PROGRAM. THE SBIR PROGRAM AIMS TO INCREASE AND FACILITATE PRIVATE SECTOR COMMERCIALIZATION OF INNOVATIONS DERIVED FROM FEDERAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, TO ENHANCE SMALL BUSINESS PARTICIPATION IN FEDERAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, AND TO FOSTER AND ENCOURAGE PARTICIPATION OF SOCIALLY AND ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND WOMEN-OWNED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS IN TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION. (4) TO UTILIZE THE SMALL BUSINESS TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER (STTR) PROGRAM. THE STTR PROGRAM INTENDS TO STIMULATE AND FOSTER SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION THROUGH COOPERATIVE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CARRIED OUT BETWEEN SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS, TO FOSTER TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER BETWEEN SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS, TO INCREASE PRIVATE SECTOR COMMERCIALIZATION OF INNOVATIONS DERIVED FROM FEDERAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, AND TO FOSTER AND ENCOURAGE PARTICIPATION OF SOCIALLY AND ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND WOMEN-OWNED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS IN TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION.

93.847 - Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Diseases Extramural Research

National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) [HHS - NIH]

Omaha, Nebraska 681987835 United States

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Stephen I. Katz Early Stage Investigator Research Project Grant (R01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) (PAR-21-038)

Amendment Since initial award the total obligations have increased 370% from $693,330 to $3,261,204.