Flagellin administration protects gut mucosal tissue from irradiation-induced apoptosis via MKP-7 activity.

Background And Aims: Radiotherapy for neoplastic disease is associated with significant adverse enteric effects associated with excessive cell death. Ionising radiation induces cell death by a mechanism that is dependent on JNK (c-jun N-terminal kinase) pathway signalling. Additionally, it is known that cells exposed to extracellular bacterial products such as flagellin, pleiotropically activate a number of innate immune pathways, including that of JNK.

Flagellin treatment protects against chemicals, bacteria, viruses, and radiation.

Sudden exposure of human populations to chemicals, pathogens, or radiation has the potential to result in substantial morbidity. A potential means of rapidly protecting such populations might be to activate innate host defense pathways, which can provide broad protection against a variety of insults. However, innate immune activators can, by themselves, result in severe inflammatory pathology, which in large part is driven by hemopoietic-derived cytokines such as TNF-alpha.