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Updated: Aug 14, 2026

In Vivo Functional Study of Disease-associated Rare Human Variants Using Drosophila
Published on: August 20, 2019
Pleiotropic effects of Trefoil Factor 1 deficiency
1Institut de Génétique et de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire (IGBMC), UMR 7104, CNRS/U596 INSERM, Université Louis Pasteur, 1 rue laurent Fries, C.U. de Strasbourg, BP10142, 67404 Illkirch Cedex, France.
Abstract:
Trefoil Factor 1 (TFF1), the first member of the trefoil factor family, is normally expressed in the stomach mucosa. Ectopic expression is also observed in various human pathological conditions, notably in numerous carcinomas and gastrointestinal acute inflammatory disorders. In vivo experimental data using TFF1-deficient mice highlight the pleiotropic functions of TFF1: (i) it is a gastric tumor suppressor gene involved in gastric ontogenesis and homeostasis; (ii) it protects gut mucosa from aggression; (iii) it participates in folding secreted proteins inside the endoplasmic reticulum. At the cellular level, it limits cell proliferation and apoptosis, and favors cell differentiation. Collectively, these data suggest that TFF1 may provide an alternative pharmacological tool for the prevention and treatment of human gastrointestinal diseases.
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