Integrated multi-model analysis of intestinal inflammation exposes key molecular features of preclinical and clinical IBD

Abstract

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic inflammatory condition of the intestine with a complex and multifaceted pathogenesis. While various animal models exist to study specific disease mechanisms relevant to human IBD, a comprehensive comparative framework linking these to IBD pathophysiology is lacking. In this study, we provide a framework that delineates common and unique features encountered at the transcriptomic level in 13 widely used mouse models, employing both curation-based and statistically correlative analyses. Our comparative transcriptomic analyses between mouse models versus established as well as new patient datasets reveal specific disease mechanisms in IBD. Furthermore, we identify IBD-related pathways, ontologies, and cellular processes that are comparable between mouse models and patient cohorts. Our findings provide a valuable resource for selecting the most appropriate experimental paradigm to model unique features of IBD pathogenesis, allowing analysis at the tissue, cellular, and subcellular levels.