UF Researchers Discover Molecular Address System That May Aid Gut Health

Building on previous findings that show a specific protein is associated with gut health, University of Florida researchers have discovered an intricate molecular mechanism that encodes a unique address system, identifying the route a certain type of immune cell takes to reach its final destination: the large intestine.

The findings shed light on the way the protein works to deliver cells associated with suppressing inflammation to the gut in mice and in humans, which may prove useful in combating inflammatory bowel disease, or IBD, and other intestinal disorders, in humans as well as in animals, said Liang Zhou, M.D., Ph.D., a professor in the UF College of Veterinary Medicine’s department of infectious diseases and immunology. Zhou is the corresponding author of the study, which was published in June 2020 in Science Immunology.

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