How tail-region nerve cells help form nerves in the lower gut
Official title: Contribution of the sacral neural crest to the peripheral nervous system of the post-umbilical gastrointestinal tract
Funded at California Institute of Technology · NIH-11326780 · Data updated 2026-11-12
Researchers are tracing how nerve cells that come from the tail region build the lower gut's nervous system to help people with congenital gut nerve problems like Hirschsprung disease.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | California Institute of Technology NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Pasadena, United States) |
| Project start | July 1, 2023 |
| Project end | March 31, 2027 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $556,439 |
| NIH project number | 5R01DK133480-04 |
| Project ID | NIH-11326780 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
People born with missing enteric nerves (Hirschsprung disease) or their families would find the results most relevant.
✕Less likely to help
Patients with unrelated digestive conditions, such as inflammatory bowel disease or acid reflux, are unlikely to receive direct benefit from this basic lab research.
What this research studies
From a patient's perspective, scientists are using chick embryos to follow sacral (tail-region) neural crest cells and watch where they migrate in the developing hindgut. They will permanently label those cells with a replication-incompetent avian retrovirus, isolate them by FACS, and read their gene activity at multiple time points. The team will compare these sacral-derived cells with vagal (neck-region) neural crest cells and test specific transcription factors that may direct different neuron types. These lab findings aim to clarify how different sources of nerve cells contribute to normal gut wiring.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, the work could reveal cellular and genetic steps that go wrong in congenital absence of gut nerves and point to targets for future diagnostics or treatments.
How similar studies have gone: Prior studies have mapped vagal neural crest contributions in multiple species, but detailed lineage tracing and transcriptional profiling of sacral neural crest in the hindgut is less explored and this combined approach is relatively novel.
Where this research is happening
-
California Institute of Technology
Pasadena, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Bronner, Marianne — California Institute of Technology
- Study coordinator: Bronner, Marianne
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.