Humanized Murine Intestinal Tract via Gut Flora Conditioning

Cirle Warren from the University of Virginia in the U.S. will develop a mouse model with an intestinal tract that is primed to mimic the human intestine in order to better study enteric infections and identify effective treatments. Several environmental enteropathies cannot be studied in the mouse because they do not simulate the human physiological response. To address this, they will test different conditions for transplanting feces from healthy children into pregnant mice to transfer human gut microbes and promote the development of a 'humanized' gut in the unborn mice. These mice will then be challenged with a specific intestinal infection and analyzed for similarities to the human response, including changes to gut physiology and immune responses.