A Small Animal Model of ETEC-Mediated Diarrhea

Sandhya Visweswariah of the Indian Institute of Science in India will generate a mouse model for studying secretory diarrhea, which causes significant mortality in young children. Secretory diarrhea is often caused by the bacterium Escherichia coli, which produces a toxin that binds to a cell surface receptor (the guanylyl cyclase C receptor) in the gastrointestinal tract thereby causing diarrhea. They will genetically engineer a mouse in which they can hyperactivate this receptor specifically in intestinal cells to potentially trigger secretory diarrhea. The effect on the gastrointestinal tract and any accompanying molecular changes will then be analyzed and could lead to the discovery of new therapeutic targets.