The Molecular Analysis of Trefoil Factors (TFF) in Gastroenterology

三叶肽（Trefoil peptide，TP）是由pS2基因、rITF等多肽组成，在结肠息肉、结肠癌、炎症性肠病等胃肠道疾病中发挥重要作用。TP位于胃肠道（包括胃、小肠以及结肠）的粘膜中。本课题旨在研究这些多肽在胃粘膜损伤和结肠损伤愈合过程中的作用。据报道，几种生长因子如EGF、TGF α、FGF和HGF促进胃肠道粘膜损伤如消化性溃疡或克罗恩病、UC的愈合。在大鼠胃中检测这些肽对NSAID诱导的胃溃疡愈合的影响。首先研究了rITF在大鼠胃和肠中的定位。rITF定位于大鼠胃、肠和结肠粘膜。此外，该肽在愈合阶段的胃溃疡边缘强烈表达。免疫组化方法采用抗rITF抗体。此外，我们还通过单层培养的胃粘膜细胞来检测TP对上皮细胞增殖和迁移的影响。因此，TP强烈地促进培养的胃粘膜细胞的增殖和迁移。在未来的研究中，计划对这些肽进行分子生物学研究，以阐明修复过程的作用机制。

It is documented that Trefoil peptides (TP) play very important roles in various gastrointestinal diseases like colon polyp, colon cancer, inflammatory bowel diseases.This peptide consists of pS2 gene, rITF and other peptides. TPs are located in the mucosa of GI tracts including stomach, small intestines as well as colon. In this project, we attempted to investigate the role of these peptides in the healing process of gastric mucosal damage and colonic damage. Several growth factors like EGF, TGFa, FGF and HGF are reported to promote the healing of GI tract mucosal injuries like peptic ulcers or Crohn's disease, UC. The effects of these peptides on the healing of gastric ulcer induced by NSAIDs in rat stomach were tested. Firstly the localization of rITF in rat stomach or intestine was investigated. rITF was located in the mucosa of rat stomach as well as intestine or colon. Further, this peptide was strongly expressed at the edge of the gastric ulcer on the healing stage. The immunostaining procedures were employed by using anti-rITF antibody. Moreover, we tested the effects of TP on the proliferation and migration of epithelial cells by using the monolayer culture of gastric mucosal cells. Consequently, TP strongly promoted the proliferation and migration of gastric mucosal cells in culture. For the future study, it is planned to study the molecular biological study of these peptides to elucidate the mechanisms of the action of repair process.