Research Progress In Molecular Mechanism Of Ulcerative Colitis

Ulcerative colitis(ulcerative colitis,UC), also known as chronic nonspecific ulcerative colitis, is an unknown chronic inflammation of the mucosa of the ulcerative lesions, mainly involving the lining of the rectum, sigmoid colon mucosa, sometimes can also be extended up to the left retrograde semi-colon, right colon, and even the entire colon and terminal ileum, and consititutes the allerged inflammatory bowel disease(inflammatory bowel disease, IBD) together with Crohn disease(Crohn’s disease, CD). The main clinical symptoms of ulcerative colitis are abdominal pain, diarrhea, mucus blood and pus and tenesmus, largely different in severity, and was chronically recurrent. Early in the last century, the clinicians become aware of the disease,but so far, the specific risk factors and pathogenesis of the disease remains yet not clear, the treatment had no significa nt progress over the years, with little satisfied effect being achieved. Most scholars believe that the disease is caused by the interaction of multiple factors, including infections, immune, genetic, environmental and psychological factors. In recent years, the rapid development of genetics, immunology, cell biology, molecular biology and other disciplines, especially with regard to cytokines, cell adhesion molecules, nuclear factor-κB(NF-κB) and Toll- like receptors, etc., started to unravel the pathogenesis of ulcerative colitis and provided a number of favorable and reliable clues, as well as a strong theoretical basis for the development of new therapeutic approaches. Under the aid of KEGG signaling map, this paper reviews recent important genetic facto r associated with ulcerative colitis, among which the related cytokines are TNFα, MDR1, Toll-like receptors, cell adhesion molecules, JAK2, STAT3, and interleukins such as IL-1, IL-2, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IL-23,etc. Then based on the functions of the above- mentioned genes and their correlation with ulcerative colitis, as well as recent studies, herein we illustrated the ulcerative colitis-related signaling pathways, including TLRs / NF-κB, JAK/STAT6 signaling pathway, in order to reveal the molecular mechanism of its pathogenesis, to provide new ideas and approaches for the treatment of this disease.