Type-1 Diabetes (T1D) has over 40,000 diagnoses in the U.S. every year (JDRF 2014), and researchers today are focused on the treatment, rather than elucidating the cause, of this dilapidating disease. Zonulin is a protein found in the intestinal wall, and is known to be upregulated in T1D victims and play a role in the progression of the autoimmune destruction of the pancreas (Fasano et. al, 2011). By modulating the spacing of the intestinal cells, it controls the quantity of bacterial signals that can pass into the host bloodstream, and these signals may be directly linked to how T1D occurs: early in life, late in life, or not at all. The <b>aim</b> of this study will be to reveal the differing quantities of this protein throughout key focus points of the intestinal wall and how these relate to early, late, and non-progressing individual animals [to T1D]. This information will tell us how bacteria are influencing the occurrence of T1D in Non-Obese Diabetic (NOD) mice, which has very obvious human implications. By using antibodies to tag Zonulin, the relative quantities can be distinctly marked and correlated within these groups. A LacMan ratio test will also be performed on <i>in-vivo</i> mice to determine the cellular spacing.

Zonulin and T1D progression in the enteric epithelium: Modulation of cellular spacing

251st National Meeting (2016)

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