Guest Editors
Vladimir Grubisic
Department of Biomedical Sciences, New York Institute of Technology
Dr. Vladimir Grubišić is an assistant professor in the Department of Biomedical Sciences at the New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine (NYITCOM). He earned his MD from the University of Zagreb School of Medicine in Croatia and his PhD in Neurobiology from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, USA. He completed postdoctoral training at Michigan State University, where he specialized in neurogastroenterology and neuroimmunology.Dr. Grubišić has a longstanding research interest in the role of glial cells in health and disease, reflected in his work on invertebrate glia, mammalian astrocytes, and enteric glial cells. His laboratory investigates the role of enteric glia in regulating gut epithelial barrier function and epithelial signal transduction. These efforts aim to elucidate the mechanistic basis of communication axes between the gut and other organs and to support the discovery of novel therapeutic strategies for gastrointestinal and systemic disorders.
Vedrana Bali
Department of Biomedical Sciences, New York Institute of Technology
Dr. Vedrana Bali is an assistant professor in the Department of Biomedical Sciences at the New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine (NYITCOM), Old Westbury, NY. She received her MD from the University of Zagreb School of Medicine and her PhD in cell biology from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, followed by postdoctoral training at Michigan State University. Her work is published in journals including Frontiers in Immunology, Mucosal Immunology, and PNAS, and brings a multidisciplinary perspective that integrates molecular, cellular, and systems-level approaches. Dr. Bali’s research bridges neuroscience, cell biology, and aspects of immunology, with a particular interest in the effects of stress and inflammation on behavior.
Collection Overview
The enteric nervous system (ENS) is an intricate network of neurons and glial cells embedded in the gut wall. It is often called “the brain in the gut” because of its size, complexity, and degree of autonomy in controlling gastrointestinal (GI) reflexes such as motility, epithelial barrier function, and secretomotor activity. These processes are mediated by neuroglial interactions within ENS ganglia and by ENS communication with other enteric networks, including smooth muscle, epithelium, and the resident immune system.
Understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying these complex, multisystem exchanges of information, both within and involving the ENS, is critical for developing novel therapeutic strategies. Such advances could benefit many GI disorders, including irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), and colon cancer, as well as systemic, metabolic, and neuropsychiatric diseases such as diabetes, autism, and Alzheimer’s disease, to name a few.
This Methods Collection aims to organize approaches and tools used in the field of neurogastroenterology, including both traditional and emerging techniques. The collection will provide new and established research groups with a repository of detailed protocols that will support data reproducibility and improve the outcomes of future research studies in the field of enteric neuroscience.
Articles
Abstracts
Microinjection into the murine enteric nervous system
James Conway*1,
Soyon Hong*1,
Tim Bartels1
1UK Dementia Research Institute at University College London
Cellular-resolution fluorescence imaging of gastrointestinal tissues at the organ scale
Arielle Planchette*1,
Lukas Michaja Balsiger2,
Karissa Humailo1,
Domitille Rajot1,
Karol Wojcicki1,
Tony Durand3,
Philippe Naveilhan3,
Michel Neunlist3,
Michalina J Gora*1
1Wyss Center for Bio and Neuroengineering,
2Kantonsspital Baselland Liestal; TARGID KU Leuven,
3Nantes Université, CHU Nantes, INSERM, TENS