Mouse Models of Gastrointestinal Infection and Cancer

TOPICAL COLLECTIONS

Guest Editor

Nicholas Markham

Department of Pathology, Microbiology, and Immunology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, United Kingdom

Nicholas Markham is an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. As an early-stage investigator, he studies bacterial pathogenesis and how the gut microbiome affects colonic disease. As a gastroenterologist, he has a firm commitment to developing this area for the benefit of patients. His postdoctoral fellowship project investigated how C. difficile toxins affect colonic stem cell growth factor signalling pathways during human infection. His preliminary data implicated cell type-specific signalling for toxin-induced cell death during C. difficile infection. The Markham Lab has carefully characterized mouse models of C. difficile and discovered previously undescribed morphological and metabolic gradients in the mouse cecum. This work is currently funded by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Stemming from this project, the lab also seeks to understand how prolonged exposure to C. difficile and subsequent colitis increases the risk of colon cancer formation.

Collection Overview

Mice are frequently used to model gastrointestinal infection and cancer. Genetic manipulation, antibody or reagent development, and germ-free technology have enhanced the sophistication of mouse modeling, enabling the interrogation of any aspect of the holobiont. This Methods Collection will highlight protocols using mice to study infections and cancers of the luminal gastrointestinal tract: esophagus, stomach, small intestine, cecum, and colon. Both novel techniques and refinements of standard techniques will be considered, with the overall goal of improving methodological rigor and reproducibility. Protocols that facilitate the study of new mechanisms of disease etiology, diagnosis, or treatment are encouraged. Such methods include cutting-edge device development for mouse endoscopy/colonoscopy, thick tissue or whole-mount histology for enteric nervous system immunofluorescence, and intravital microscopy of tumor invasion/metastasis.