Project description
Understanding the mechanisms underlying intestinal fibrosis
Intestinal fibrosis is a pathological process that occurs when the tissue of the intestine becomes thickened and scarred due to abnormal tissue repair. It is a common complication of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). However, the mechanisms driving intestinal fibrosis are not fully understood. The iMOTIONS project, funded by the European Research Council, will focus on the role of the cytokine oncostatin M (OSM) in immune stromal crosstalk in human IBD and how it modulates intestinal fibrosis. Using newly generated reporter and conditional knock out mice, mouse models of intestinal inflammation and fibrosis, and primary human tissue samples, it will dissect the crosstalk between the immune system and stromal cells driving intestinal fibrosis.
Objective
Intestinal fibrosis is a common and serious complication of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). While intestinal inflammation can be treated pharmacologically based on our current understanding of the underlying pathogenesis, little is known about the mechanisms driving fibrogenesis. Thus no approved therapies exist for intestinal fibrosis. While stromal cells lie at the heart of fibrogenesis, our knowledge of how immune-derived signals instruct aberrant tissue repair and fibrosis is limited. We recently highlighted that the immune-stromal cell axis is a crucial component of IBD pathogenesis. Our research discovered that the IL-6 family cytokine oncostatin-M (OSM) plays a central role in immune-stromal crosstalk in human IBD, and drives pro-inflammatory responses in patients with refractory disease. Genetic deletion of OSM significantly reduced acute intestinal inflammation. Furthermore, our current findings suggest that OSM is required for intestinal remodeling and the regulation of collagen homeostasis by controlling immune cell recruitment. Thus, the OSM-OSMR axis serves as a rheostat for tissue inflammation and repair. We will investigate how OSM modulates intestinal fibrosis and identify upstream and downstream signaling events controlling intestinal fibrosis. I will use (i) newly generated reporter and conditional knock-out mice, (ii) contemporary mouse models of intestinal inflammation and fibrosis, (iii) primary human tissue samples from carefully clinically annotated IBD patients with intestinal fibrosis, and (iv) cutting-edge technologies including single-cell sequencing and imaging mass cytometry to dissect the crosstalk between the immune system and stromal cells driving intestinal fibrosis. This project will deepen our understanding of the intestinal aberrant tissue repair mechanisms acting in IBD and other fibrotic diseases, define novel biomarkers to identify patients at risk of fibrosis and provide the means to prevent and treat fibrotic disease.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
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Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
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(opens in new window) ERC-2022-STG
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10117 Berlin
Germany
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