title: Interferon-gamma regulation of intestinal epithelial permeability.
abstract: The maintenance and regulation of the barrier function of the epithelial lining of the intestine are important homeostatic events, serving to allow selective absorption from the gut lumen while simultaneously limiting the access of bacteria into the mucosa. Interferon-gamma is a pleiotrophic cytokine produced predominantly by natural kill cells and CD4+ T cells that under normal circumstances, and particularly during infection or inflammation, will be a component of the intestinal milieu. Use of colon-derived epithelial cell lines and, to a less extent, murine in vivo analyses, have revealed that interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) can increase epithelial permeability as gauged by markers of paracellular permeability and bacterial transcytosis, with at least a portion of the bacteria using the transcellular permeation pathway. In this review, we describe the main characteristics of epithelial permeability and then focus on the ability of IFN-gamma to increase epithelial permeability, and the mechanism(s) thereof.
authors.affiliation: Gastrointestinal Research Group, Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
authors.forename: Cécile
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Beaurepaire
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Smyth
authors.forename: Derek M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: McKay
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D018988:Bacterial Translocation; D002460:Cell Line; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000382:microbiology; D006801:Humans; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000378:metabolism*; D007408:Intestinal Absorption; D007413:Intestinal Mucosa / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000382:microbiology; D007422:Intestines / Q000382:microbiology; D010539:Permeability
chemical_list: D007371:Interferon-gamma