Neonatal injury increases gut permeability by epigenetically suppressing E-cadherin in adulthood

Epithelial cell juntion integrity is thought to play an important role in the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Early life stressors are suspected to impact epithelial barrier function later in life. We postulated that based on our previous findings that early life exposure to an inflammatory event could lead to epigegenetic changes mediating an exagerated response to a second inflammatory insult as an adult. In addition, we hypothesized that this increased inflammatory response could be mediated by alterations in miRNA expression impacting essential junction protein E-cadherin.