Using human organoids to unravel epigenetic mechanisms in health and Inflammatory Bowel Diseases

Summary

The intestinal epithelium provides a critical barrier that contributes towards the establishment of a finely tuned homeostasis in the human gut. Development of a fully functioning intestinal epithelium requires the complex interaction with the environment, mediated through epigenetic mechanisms such as DNA methylation.

Project aims

This project investigates the impact of environmental factors on early epigenetic programming in the human intestinal epithelium and the implications to Inflammatory Bowel Disease pathogenesis.

The project will utilise human mucosa derived intestinal epithelial organoids (derived from human fetal gut as well as healthy and diseased mucosal biopsies). Organoids will be subjected to gene editing, co-culture and genome wide molecular profiling (including epigenetic profiling and single cell RNA sequencing).

Contact details

Professor Matthias Zilbauer - mz304@cam.ac.uk

Opportunities

This project is open to applicants who want to do a:

• PhD