Epithelial-specific loss of Smad4 alleviates the fibrotic response in an acute colitis mouse model.

Mucosal healing is associated with better clinical outcomes in patients with inflammatory bowel disease. But the epithelial-specific contribution to mucosal healing in vivo is poorly understood. We evaluated mucosal healing in an acute dextran sulfate sodium mouse model that shows an alleviated colitis response after epithelial-specific loss of Smad4.

Smad4 Loss in the Mouse Intestinal Epithelium Alleviates the Pathological Fibrotic Response to Injury in the Colon.

Unlabelled: Mucosal healing is associated with better clinical outcomes in patients with inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs). Unresolved injury and inflammation, on the other hand, increases pathological fibrosis and the predisposition to cancer. Loss of Smad4, a tumor suppressor, is known to increase colitis-associated cancer in mouse models of chronic IBD.