Intestinal fungi, collectively known as the mycobiota, have emerged as significant contributors to intestinal disease severity. Our prior research demonstrated the efficacy of fecal microbiota transplantation in inducing clinical responses in ulcerative colitis (UC) patients associated with decreased fungal colonization over time. Further investigations in mouse models and UC patients revealed that fungi exacerbate disease […]

The immune system in the gut faces a unique challenge: it must rapidly attack harmful microbes while coexisting with trillions of beneficial bacteria that promote digestion and health. When this balance fails, the immune system can mistakenly attack harmless microbes, leading to pathologies such as IBD. Although scientists have identified rare immune cells that promote […]

  Major challenges in studying inflammatory disorders include establishing causality—distinguishing cellular and molecular changes in immune cells that drive disease from those that arise as secondary consequences of inflammatory tissue damage—and shifting from a focus on individual cell types toward understanding how groups of cells function as circuits within inflamed tissues. These challenges are particularly […]

Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD) including Crohn’s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) are caused by environmental triggers and a dysregulated immune system. Interactions between certain bacteria, known as pathobionts, and the gut immune system contribute to IBD in animal models. However, we understand little of the types of pathobionts that might be influencing human IBD. […]

Proteins serve essential functions in all living things by performing the many tasks required to keep a cell, and an entire organism, alive and healthy. To perform their jobs properly, however, proteins must be told what to do, and the way that this is accomplished is through protein modifications that serve as microscopic work orders. […]

Pain is a significant contributor to disease burden in Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), as nearly half of individuals with ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease report persistent intestinal pain. Such pain is generally mediated by nociceptors, peripheral sensory neurons that detect harmful stimuli. The mechanisms leading to nociceptor activation in IBD are poorly understood, and few treatments for […]