Research Summary
Dr. Zeigler leads a Comparative Gastroenterology Lab in defining and rescuing intestinal restitution in response to barrier injury. Under her K01 award, she has been exploring the role of the developing enteric glial cell network in regulating intestinal barrier repair in early postnatal life and has begun to define the molecular phenotype of epithelial wound healing responses (termed “restitution”) that she observed in a pig model. Her newest endeavors include using single cell transcriptomics to compare pig and human epithelial phenotypes intestine-wide and define a restitution/hybrid EMT phenotype, as well as explore the role of CSF-1 in rescuing this phenotype in our neonatal model, specifically as outlined in this proposal, “CSF-1 Induced Hybrid EMT to Rescue Acute Intestinal Epithelial Restitution”. Her long-term goal is to carve out a niche in comparative, transdisciplinary molecular and pathophysiological gastroenterology to study development of intestinal barrier repair early in life using innovative large animal models and improve the clinical management of neonates susceptible to intestinal injury.
CGIBD Focus Area(s): Regeneration and Repair
Pilot and Feasibility Award 2018
Collaborators: Blikslager, Gonzalez, Magness, van Landeghem
