Using gnotobiotic mice to discover and validate therapeutically active microbiota to maintain mucosal homeostasis and treat intestinal inflammation

Publication date: Available online 16 September 2019Source: Drug Discovery Today: Disease ModelsAuthor(s): R. Balfour SartorStudies in gnotobiotic mice have dramatically expanded our understanding of the functional importance of microbiota in the pathogenesis of chronic intestinal inflammation. This brief review describes several strategies by which gnotobiotic mice models can be used to efficiently discover and validate protective components from the resident microbiota for potential therapeutic applications. We provide highly targeted examples of studies that use each of the various strategies to illustrate effective approaches, discuss challenges to implementing these approaches and suggest future directions to accelerate this increasingly important line of research and improve the clinical applications of results.
Source: Drug Discovery Today: Disease Models - Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Source Type: research