Hadar Bootz-Maoz, Ariel Simon, Sara Del Mare-Roumani, Yifat Bennet, Einat Toister, Hadar Romano, Danping Zheng, Sivan Amidror, Eran Elinav and Nissan Yissachar
Biofilms and Microbiomes, 03 July 2023
Scientists develop an innovative gut organ culture system and perform TEER measurements on Axion’s Maestro platform to evaluate intestinal barrier function.
The intestinal epithelial barrier is vital to facilitating interactions between the host and gut microbiome. Disruptions to intestinal barrier integrity are associated with autoimmune disease, allergic conditions, cancer, inflammatory bowel diseases, and irritable bowel syndrome—but evaluating the mechanisms of barrier dynamics can be challenging. In this study, scientists present an innovative ex vivo intestinal permeability assay (X-IPA) designed to assess barrier function of intestinal epithelium.
To evaluate barrier function of epithelial cells exposed to compounds or microbes known to cause barrier disruption, the scientists performed hands-free TEER measurements on Axion’s Maestro Edge live-cell analysis system with Impedance module. Taken together with other results, the authors “demonstrate that specific gut microbes and metabolites induce rapid, dose-dependent increases to gut permeability, thus providing a powerful approach for precise investigation of barrier functions.”
