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Team:UC Davis/Celiac
From 2009.igem.org
Contents |
What is Celiac Disease?
Description
Celiac disease is a form of autoimmune disorder that occurs inside the small intestines of about one out of every 133 Americans. Affected individuals cannot properly digest gliadin (a component of gluten), leading to immune responses that may include pain and/or vomiting.
What happens in the normal small intestines?
In normal small intestines, the brush border membrane lets small peptides and molecules like water through and into the bloodstream. The brush border membrane also lets larger molecules into the blood stream, similar to gliadin; however, these larger molecules are converted through a transcellular route, which does not prompt an immune system response.
What happens in celiac disease small intestines?
The brush border membrane in the small intestines of people suffering from celiac disease allows large molecules such as gliadin to go directly into the blood stream without routing them through the transcellular path. Once gliadin passes through, antigen-presenting cells recognize gliadin as a foreign object and will attack. This immune response causes pain and other adverse side-effects.
These side-effects over time may also damage intestinal villi, important for absorbing nutrients. Lack of nutrients can lead to other illnesses such as autoimmune thyroid disease, autoimmune liver disease, and rheumatoid arthritis (diseases in which body immune system attacks healthy cells/tissues) (14).
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