Wnt signalling in the gut
Research type
Research Study
Full title
An investigation of Wnt signalling gene expression networks in ulcerative colitis
IRAS ID
255661
Contact name
Paraskevi Goggolidou
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Wolverhampton
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 11 months, 31 days
Research summary
Ulcerative colitis is a long-term condition, where the colon and rectum become inflamed. The main symptoms of ulcerative colitis are recurring diarrhoea, which may contain blood, mucus or pus, abdominal pain and needing to empty your bowels frequently. The severity of the symptoms varies, depending on how much of the rectum and colon is inflamed and how severe the inflammation is. For some people, the condition has a significant impact on their everyday lives. The condition can develop at any age, but is most often diagnosed in people from 15 to 25 years old. It is more common in white people of European descent (especially those descended from Ashkenazi Jewish communities) and black people. The condition is rarer in people from Asian backgrounds and both men and women seem to be equally affected by ulcerative colitis.
Wnt signalling is a complex pathway that regulates the position of cells on a plane and has been shown to be abnormal in a number of hyperproliferative diseases, including cancer. Because of the anatomy of the gut and the role of Wnt signalling in organ morphogenesis, it is possible that Wnt signalling is also perturbed in ulcerative colitis. We will be collecting gut tissue from healthy and ulcerative colitis individuals and assessing the expression of key Wnt genes and proteins by real-time PCR and Western blotting, in order to be able to identify potential differences between healthy and diseased tissue.
REC name
London - Riverside Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
18/LO/2227
Date of REC Opinion
28 Dec 2018
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion