Hyaluronan, a new neuroimmune modulator of the microbiota-immune-gut-axis

Dr. Cristina Giaroni from University of Insubria, Italy will give presentation entitled "Hyaluronan, a new neuroimmune modulator of the microbiota-immune-gut-axis".

Summary of talk: "The gut saprophytic commensal flora has a fundamental role in the modulation of several local functions including regulation of host immune system and defense against pathogenic microorganisms. Alterations in the symbiotic relationship between the microbiota and the enteric microenvironment underlays development of complex gut disorders such as chronic inflammatory disease (IBD). In recent years, we have focused on hyluronan (HA), an unbranched glycosaminoglycan (GAG) component of the extracellular matrix, as a new molecular player involved in neuroadaptive changes of enteric neuronal circuitries in the inflamed gut. The GAG is a key molecule mediating the host immune response to commensal and pathogenic bacteria by binding to toll-like receptors, TLR2 and 4. Since both TLRs have been localized to enteric neurons and may regulate intestinal inflammation by controlling enteric nervous system (ENS) structural and functional integrity, HA represents a potential molecular tool involved in development of myenteric neural plasticity by tuning adaptive signals at the intersection between the microbiota-innate immunity axis and ENS. This hypothesis is innovative and opens new scenarios in the study of the molecular mechanism involved in the onset and severity of bowel diseases as well as for the development of new therapeutic agents for the treatment of diseases with clinical and social impact, all with underlying derangements of the microbiota-immune-gut axis, such as IBD."

All results and perspectives will be highlighted during the 7th World Congress on Targeting Microbiota whcih will be organized in Park Inn Hotel - Krakow, Poland, on October 10 - 11, 2019.