Discovery and function of microbiome peptides involved in Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) affects more than three million people in the United States and can cause lifelong pain, fatigue and digestive problems. Although scientists know that gut bacteria play an important role in IBD, most research has focused on which microbes are present rather than on the chemical signals they produce during IBD. Bacteria produce small molecules that help them communicate with each other and interact with human host cells, but these compounds have been largely ignored in IBD research. Our team has discovered that the genes coding for certain bacterial molecules are more common in people with IBD, while others are found more often in healthy individuals. However, the identities of these molecules and their roles in IBD remain to be determined. In this project, we aim to identify these bacterial compounds, understand how they are made and determine how they affect both gut bacteria and human intestinal cells in healthy individuals and in IBD patients. This work will provide a new way of thinking about IBD, shifting attention from bacteria alone to the powerful chemicals they produce, and may ultimately point toward new strategies for diagnosis, prevention or treatment of this debilitating disease.