Year 1

Short Bowel Syndrome (SBS) is an expensive, morbid condition with an increasing
incidence. Fundamental congenital and perinatal conditions such as gastroschisis, volvulus,
atresia, and necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) may lead to SBS. NEC is the most common
gastrointestinal emergency in neonates and primarily occurs in premature infants. Rates of
prematurity are increasing, as are the numbers of children with SBS and NEC. In addition,
prevalence is increasing for other diagnoses such as gastroschisis. Medical and surgical
treatments are partial and carry high dollar and human costs including multiple infections and
hospitalizations for vascular access, liver failure in conjunction with intravenous nutrition, and
death. Tissue-engineered small intestine (TESI) offers a potential durable autologous therapy. In the human, engineered intestine from autologous cells would avoid the problems of transplant: immunosuppression and donor supply. Because engineered small and large intestine, esophagus, stomach and specific portions of the gastrointestinal tract such as the GE junction, form by the same process, in addition to SBS engineered intestine could aid in future treatments of trauma, vascular
accidents, and gastrointestinal cancer resection. In this year’s work, we were able to identify the donor contributions to TESI in a novel murine model that will allow us to make the formation of tissue-engineered small intestine much more efficient. This progress will help us to progress toward a safe human therapy.