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Team:UC Davis
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Revision as of 22:05, 20 October 2009
It
is estimated that about one in
every 133 Americans suffer from an autoimmune disorder called Celiac
Disease
(14, 11). Celiac Disease is a condition where the small intestines of
an
affected individual cannot properly digest gliadin, a protein present in gluten.
When
consumed, gliadin induces immune system responses, whose
side-effects are,
but not limited to abdominal pain, chronic diarrhea and vomiting (14).
Currently, the only accepted treatment for this disorder is adhering to
a
gluten-free diet (14, 12). This can be very difficult as great
varieties of
food contain gluten. This inspired us to imagine an alternative
treatment based on a probiotic organism
that can
survive and take residence in the stomach, where it would secrete an
enzyme that
will degrade gliadin.
Then the design
elements of this organism should satisfy at least two main
criteria.
First, it
should be able to survive only in the stomach; secondly, secrete an
enzyme
that will degrade gliadin. We envision that these parts would not
only be useful for our project, but also to other future projects.
We
decided to focus our summer project on building the first of two key elements
required for
our system:
1. Produce an
inducible secretion
system
2. Construct a
biological pH sensor limiting this secretion system to
the
stomach
Special thanks to Suzy Fenton,Wayne Fenton, Jeanne Joe-Fenton and Wayne Fenton Jr.
Also we thank Charles H. Halsted for reviewing our material regarding celiac disease.
