The National Institutes of Health awarded UC Riverside researcher Declan McCole, PhD, a $1.83 million grant.
Here's what you should know:
1. Dr. McCole is studying how the loss of the intestinal epithelial barrier in the intestine is related to inflammatory bowel disease.
2. Many IBD, celiac disease and type 1 diabetes patients have reduced T-cell protein tyrosine phosphatase activity, which compromises their intestinal epithelial barrier's function.
3. NIH awarded Dr. McCole the grant specifically to identify how reduced TCPTP activity contributes to barrier defects.
4. In a release, he said, "When TCPTP activity is compromised, errors occur in remodeling cell junctions — the structures that regulate barrier function. The goal of the study is to discover the mechanisms by which loss of TCPTP activity in patients contributes to intestinal barrier defects in IBD. In addition, we hope to identify if strategies to inhibit JAK signaling may prove particularly effective in patients with TCPTP genetic mutations."