TLR2 and TLR9 modulate enteric nervous system inflammatory responses to lipopolysaccharide.

Background: Accumulating evidence suggest that the enteric nervous system (ENS) plays important roles in gastrointestinal inflammatory responses, which could be in part mediated by Toll-like receptor (TLR) activation. The aim of this study was to characterise the expression and functionality of TLR2/4/9 in the ENS.

Methods: TLR2/4/9 expression was assessed in the plexuses of adult rats and embryonic ENS cultures by immunofluorescence and quantitative PCR.

Short-fiber protein of ad40 confers enteric tropism and protection against acidic gastrointestinal conditions.

The lack of vectors for selective gene delivery to the intestine has hampered the development of gene therapy strategies for intestinal diseases. We hypothesized that chimeric adenoviruses of Ad5 (species C) displaying proteins of the naturally enteric Ad40 (species F) might hold the intestinal tropism of the species F and thus be useful for gene delivery to the intestine. As oral-fecal dissemination of enteric adenovirus must withstand the conditions encountered in the gastrointestinal tract, we studied the resistance of chimeric Ad5 carrying the short-fiber protein of Ad40 to acid milieu and proteases and found that the Ad40 short fiber confers resistance to inactivation in acidic conditions and that AdF/40S was further activated upon exposure to low pH.

Functional inclusion bodies produced in bacteria as naturally occurring nanopills for advanced cell therapies.

Inclusion bodies (50-500 nm in diameter) produced in recombinant bacteria can be engineered to contain functional proteins with therapeutic potential. Upon exposure, these protein particles are efficiently internalized by mammalian cells and promote recovery from diverse stresses. Being fully biocompatible, inclusion bodies are a novel platform, as tailored nanopills, for sustained drug release in advanced cell therapies.

Neuromuscular changes in a rat model of colitis.

Intracolonic administration of Trichinella spiralis larvae in rats causes colitis with features similar to ulcerative colitis, notably with inflammation predominantly limited to the colonic mucosa. Our aim was to characterize the functional and neurochemical changes occurring within the myenteric (MP) and submucosal plexuses (SMP) during T. spiralis-induced colitis.