Myofibroblasts and the cell proliferation in the gastric mucosa of developing rats submitted to early weaning

• Grant number: 19/24653-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: January 01, 2020
• End date: March 31, 2021
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Morphology - Cytology and Cell Biology
• Principal Investigator: Patrícia Gama
• Grantee: Beatriz Cavalcante Silva
• Host Institution: Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas (ICB). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The stomach is responsible for the partial digestion of food, and gastric corpus region is the main area for this process. There, glands are divided into 3 segments: isthmus, neck and base, which are covered with different epithelial cells. Changes in the feeding pattern may change the niches and influence the cellular distribution in each region, and early weaning is one of the situations in which this occurs. Proliferative cells are responsible for the renewal of the gastric mucosa and, in adult individuals, they are at the isthmus-neck interface. Myofibroblasts are modified fibroblasts that are usually differentiated when there is tissue damage, and they function during repair. These cells produce and / or possess associated molecules that might alter the proliferative niche and so, modify their activity and distribution. This project aims to study the possible presence of myofibroblasts around gastric glands, as well as their relationship and possible interference with the proliferation of this tissue. For this, the immunofluorescence and immunoprecipitation techniques will be used in samples of rats of 18 and 30 days, submitted to early weaning (15th day), compared to normally breastfed animals. (AU)