Elucidate the role of inflammasome in irradiation-induced enteritis

Research Project

Project/Area Number	16K19846
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
Allocation Type	Multi-year Fund
Research Field	Radiation science
Research Institution	Jichi Medical University
Principal Investigator	Inoue Yoshiyuki 自治医科大学, 医学部, 助教 (80375279)
Project Period (FY)	2016-04-01 – 2018-03-31
Project Status	Completed (Fiscal Year 2017)
Budget Amount *help	¥3,900,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,000,000、Indirect Cost: ¥900,000) Fiscal Year 2017: ¥1,690,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,300,000、Indirect Cost: ¥390,000) Fiscal Year 2016: ¥2,210,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,700,000、Indirect Cost: ¥510,000)
Keywords	放射線腸炎 / インフラマソーム / IL-1β / 放射線性腸炎 / 自然免疫
Outline of Final Research Achievements	Inflammation plays an important role in the pathogenesis of irradiation-induced enteritis; however, it is still unknown how radiation triggers its inflammatory responses after irradiation. We hypothesized that NLRP3 inflammasomes, a newly innate immune pathway, are involved in the process of irradiation-induced enteritis., and found that compared to the wild-type mice, mice deficient of inflammasome components prolonged the survival time, and reduced body weight loss and the expression of inflammatory and fibrosis-related markers. Furthermore, cohousing experiments revealed that gut microbiota, especially Helicobacter, contributes to the pathogenesis of irradiation-induced enteritis. These findings suggest that NLRP3 inflammasomes are crucial for mediating irradiation-induced enteritis and Helicobacter may be involved in its process.