Original Article    OPEN ACCESS

Expression of integrin alphavbeta6 in the intestinal epithelial cells of patients with

inflammatory bowel disease

Bai-Sui Feng*¶§, Xiao Chen*§, Ping Li*§, Peng-Yuan Zheng¶, Jasmine Chong*§, Dan-Bi Cho*§, Shao-Heng He†, Shang-Guo Tang§, Ping-Chang Yang*§

*Brain Body Institute and §Department of Pathology & Molecular Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada. ¶Department of Gastroenterology, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China. †Clinical Experimental Center, the First Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China.

Citation: Feng B-S, Chen X, Li P, Zheng PY, Chong J, Cho D-B, He S-H, Tang S-G, Yang P-C. Expression of integrin alphavbeta6 in the intestinal epithelial cells of patients with inflammatory bowel disease. North Am J Med Sci 2009; 1: 200-204.   
doi: 10.4297/najms.2009.4200
Availability: www.najms.org
ISSN: 1947 – 2714

Abstract
Background and aims: The prevalence of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is about 0.05% in industrialized countries. The pathogenesis of IBD remains to be further understood. The present study aims to elucidate the expression of integrin αvβ6 in the intestinal mucosa of patients with IBD. Materials and Methods: Colonic biopsy was obtained from a group of IBD patients. The expression of αvβ6 in the intestinal mucosa was detected by Western blotting. Human colonic epithelial cell line T84 cells were stimulated by microbial antigen flagellin. The expression of αvβ6 in T84 cells was evaluated by quantitative RT-PCR and Western blotting. Results: The levels of αvβ6 in the intestinal mucosa were much lower than it in normal control subjects. The serum levels of myeloperoxidase (MPO) were higher in IBD patients that were negatively correlated with the levels of αvβ6 in the intestinal mucosa. The expression of αvβ6 was detectable in T84 cells at naïve status that could be upregulated by exposure to microbial antigen flagellin.  Pretreatment with MPO dramatically suppressed the expression of αvβ6 in T84 cells. Conclusions: We conclude that the expression of αvβ6 was suppressed in IBD intestinal mucosa, which could be resulted from the high levels of MPO.

Keywords: Inflammatory bowel disease; intestine; mucosa; integrin; oral tolerance.

Correspondence to: Dr. Ping-Chang Yang, T3330-50 Charlton Ave East, St. Joseph Healthcare, Hamilton, ON, Canada L8N 4A6. Tel: (905) 522-1155 ext. 35828. Fax: (905) 540-6593. Email: yangp@mcmaster.ca