Immunome Research
Open Access
ISSN: 1745-7580
+44-20-4587-4809
ISSN: 1745-7580
+44-20-4587-4809
Giovanni Monteleone
University of Rome “Tor Vergata”,
Italy
Review Article
Smad7 as a Target for Immunomodulation Strategy in Inflammatory Bowel
Diseases
Author(s): Silvia Sedda, Edoardo Troncone, Maria Imeneo and Giovanni MonteleoneSilvia Sedda, Edoardo Troncone, Maria Imeneo and Giovanni Monteleone
Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) are chronic inflammatory pathologies of the gut, characterized by a relapsing-remitting course. Although IBD pathogenesis is not fully understood, epidemiological and experimental data suggest that multiple environmental factors can, in genetically predisposed individuals, trigger an excessive immune response directed against the antigens of the normal intestinal microflora, which eventually leads to the tissue damage. Defects in the physiological mechanisms/factors of counter-regulation contribute to amplify and sustain such a detrimental response. For instance, in inflamed tissue of IBD patients there is diminished activity of the immunesuppressive cytokine transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1, due to elevated levels of Smad7, an intracellular inhibitor of TGF-β1 signaling. Consistently, knockdown of Smad7 with a specific antisense oligonuc.. View More»
DOI:
10.4172/1745-7580.1000133