A new study could help identify new ways to treat inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

Collectively known as IBD, Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis are incurable conditions that involve excessive inflammation in the gut and affect over 500,000 people in the UK, according to Crohn’s & Colitis UK.

In this study, researchers deleted two proteins, c-Maf and Blimp-1, from T cells in mice to understand their role in maintaining gut health via IL-10.

Mutations in the cytokine IL-10 or its receptor can result in IBD in children and it has previously been shown that c-Maf and Blimp-1 can drive the activity of the IL-10 gene in T cells.

They found that, when combined with an environmental trigger – an infection with the Helicobacter hepaticus bacterium – IL-10 activity in T cells was reduced and inflammation progressed.

After 14 days, researchers revealed that when either c-Maf or Blimp-1 was missing, moderate colitis was induced and severe colitis occurred in mice when both proteins were removed.

Additionally, results showed that the proteins were protective against inflammation on IL-10, acting through different immune pathways that impact T cell activities.

After studying colon biopsies of patients with IBD, researchers found similarities in the genes expressed in humans and mice with bacteria-induced inflammation resulting from the absence of c-Maf or Blimp-1.

The team plans to investigate how intestinal inflammation can develop and progress to colitis in response to different microorganisms.

Anne O’Garra, head of the Immunoregulation and Infection Laboratory, the Crick, commented: “Our findings show that Blimp-1 and c-Maf not only co-operate to regulate IL-10 expression to prevent severe bacteria-induced colitis but reinforce this control by their distinct actions on distinct inflammatory T cell molecules.”

King’s College London’s (KCL) Biomedical Engineering and Imaging Sciences (BMEIS) and McMaster University have partnered to advance nuclear medicine research and education.

The collaboration will support the discovery and development of new health interventions and aim to deliver unique learning opportunities for students and professionals in the field of nuclear medicine.

Leveraging both partners’ world-leading nuclear research facilities and expertise to develop novel production methods for radionuclides and radiopharmaceuticals, researchers in the UK and Canada will collaborate and participate in joint training opportunities and skills-building workshops.

KCL’s BMEIS works to train the next generation of biomedical engineers, imaging scientists and radiochemists and collaborates with researchers, clinicians and industry.

The institution provides access to KCL’s department of imaging chemistry and biology, the Clyclotron and Radiochemistry Laboratory, the PET Centre and the Positron Emitting Radiopharmaceutical Laboratory, all located at St Thomas’ Hospital.

As a world-leading supplier of medical isotopes, McMaster University comprises several nuclear research facilities, such as the McMaster Nuclear Reactor, and a high-level laboratory facility for scientists and students to use for radioisotope processing, radiotracer production, radiopharmaceutical development and radiation biology research.

With a focus on cyclotron targetry development and radionuclide production, including the optimised production of 94Tc for PET scans, researchers and students will use KCL’s CARL research facility, along with McMaster’s nuclear facilities, for designing, machining and optimising solid and liquid targets for radionuclide production. This work can then be translated to deliver clinical trials.