Reindert Jehoul

Keywords gastrointestinal Hirschsprung’s disease gut neural crest cells noncoding RNA epigenetics Emerging roles of microRNAs in enteric nervous system homeostasis and enteric neuropathies The gastrointestinal tract is unparalleled among hollow smooth muscle organs, having evolved its own intrinsic autonomous nervous system, the ENS, often given the epithet the ‘brain of the gut’.

Growing evidence demonstrates the involvement of the gut-brain axis in Alzheimer's disease (AD). To investigate the role of peripheral pathological changes in AD, we utilized the 5xFAD mouse model, exhibiting neuronal overexpression of mutant human amyloid precursor protein-695 and presenilin-1 transgenes. In 5xFAD mice, increased intestinal amyloid precursor protein expression and amyloid-β accumulation in enteric neurons were observed, alongside mild intestinal inflammation and fibrosis.