Molecular mechanisms involved in early eosinophilic esophagitis pathogenesis

Dr. Tetreault’s team has generated a new mouse model that leads to the development of eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) and that show all the features observed in patients with the disease. This observation is a game changer in the field of EoE since most mouse models of EoE have failed to recapitulate all of the features of the human disease and have limited their use or the implication of the findings obtained from those studies. By performing single cell RNA sequencing, Dr. Tetreault and her team will determine how changes in the expression of specific molecules in epithelial cells control the development of eosinophilic esophagitis. We plan on performing these studies in mice that have the disease, but also at an earlier time point just before mice show any obvious features of the disease. We believe that the latter condition will help us identify the initiating molecular events that are leading to the development of EoE. This is a crucial question that is still unanswered in the field of EoE.