Project description:A more in-depth exploration of gut functional aspects may be interesting in order to provide hints for action (e.g. dietary strategies) to favor gut balance maintenance (Sinha et al., 2017), given the important role of the intestine in development of possible metabolic diseases. A careful survey on the differential gene expression may help to scouting new interesting functions and identify potential markers for testing various experimental factors. The transcriptomes of the jejunum and cecum mucosae of 19 broiler chickens were compared. At slaughter age (day 42), on 38 birds, selected with a homogeneous body weight, jejunum and cecum mucosae were collected by gently scraping after tissues rinsing in PSB to remove residues of digesta, and immediately frozen in liquid nitrogen and then stored at -80°C. From both tissues, total RNA was extracted using GeneJET RNA Purification Kit (Thermo Scientific)
Project description:Adding lysolecithin to feed has reportedly improved the performance of broiler chickens. Lysolecithin is generated by phospholipase catalyzed hydrolysis of lecithin. The enzymatic reaction converts phospholipids into lysophospholipids, with lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC) the primary product. Here we compared supplementation with a commercial lysolecithin (Lysoforte(R) Kemin Industries, Inc., Des Moines, IA) with comparable levels of purified LPC for effects on broilers. Despite no differences in weight gain during the starter period, we discovered a significant increase in average villus length in the jejunum with lysolecithin, but not with LPC. High-throughput gene expression microarray analyses revealed many more genes were regulated in the epithelium of jejunum by lysolecithin compared to LPC. The most upregulated genes and pathways were for collagen, extracellular matrix and integrins. Staining sections of jejunum with Sirius Red confirmed the increased deposition of collagen fibrils in villi of broilers fed lysolecithin but not LPC. Thus, lysolecithin elicits gene expression in the intestinal epithelium leading to enhanced collagen deposition and villus length. LPC alone as a supplement does not mimic these responses. Feed supplementation with lysolecithin triggers changes in the intestinal epithelium with the potential to improve overall gut health and performance.
Project description:Profiling of the human jejunum peptidome before and after total gastrectomy. The study compares the peptidome of jejunum using intact mass spectrometry and database searching. These peptides included most gut hormones including proglucagon derived peptides, PYY, GIP, Motilin somatostatin and neurotensin amongst others.