Targeting Immune Cell Metabolism in the Treatment of Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Vanessa Zaiatz Bittencourt, Fiona Jones, Glen Doherty, Elizabeth J. Ryan

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

The cells of the immune system are highly dynamic, constantly sensing and adapting to changes in their surroundings. Complex metabolic pathways govern leukocytes' ability to fine-tune their responses to external threats. Mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 and hypoxia inducible factor are important hubs of these pathways and play a critical role coordinating cell activation and proliferation and cytokine production. For this reason, these molecules are attractive therapeutic targets in inflammatory disease. Insight into perturbations in immune cell metabolic pathways and their impact on inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) progression are starting to emerge. However, it remains to be determined whether the aberrations in immune metabolism that occur in gut resident immune cells contribute to disease pathogenesis or are reflected in the peripheral blood of patients with IBD. In this review, we explore what is known about the metabolic profile of T cells, monocytes, macrophages, dendritic cells, and natural killer cells in IBD and discuss the potential of manipulating immune cell metabolism as a novel approach to treating IBD.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1684-1693
Number of pages10
JournalInflammatory Bowel Diseases
Volume27
Issue number10
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Oct 2021

Keywords

  • HIF
  • glycolysis
  • immunometabolism
  • mTORC1
  • oxidative phosphorylation

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