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Review
. 2023 Jun 5:11:1199878.
doi: 10.3389/fped.2023.1199878. eCollection 2023.

Programmed death of intestinal epithelial cells in neonatal necrotizing enterocolitis: a mini-review

Shuo Yang #  1   2 , Xin Wei #  3 , Yuting Zhong  2 , Conglu Guo  2 , Xinzhu Liu  3 , Zhibin Wang  1   2 , Ye Tu  1
Affiliations
Review

Programmed death of intestinal epithelial cells in neonatal necrotizing enterocolitis: a mini-review

Shuo Yang et al. Front Pediatr. .

Abstract

Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is one of the most fatal diseases in premature infants. Damage to the intestinal epithelial barrier (IEB) is an important event in the development of intestinal inflammation and the evolution of NEC. The intestinal epithelial monolayer formed by the tight arrangement of intestinal epithelial cells (IECs) constitutes the functional IEB between the organism and the extra-intestinal environment. Programmed death and regenerative repair of IECs are important physiological processes to maintain the integrity of IEB function in response to microbial invasion. However, excessive programmed death of IECs leads to increased intestinal permeability and IEB dysfunction. Therefore, one of the most fundamental questions in the field of NEC research is to reveal the pathological death process of IECs, which is essential to clarify the pathogenesis of NEC. This review focuses on the currently known death modes of IECs in NEC mainly including apoptosis, necroptosis, pyroptosis, ferroptosis, and abnormal autophagy. Furthermore, we elaborate on the prospect of targeting IECs death as a treatment for NEC based on exciting animal and clinical studies.

Keywords: intestinal epithelial barrier; intestinal epithelial cells; necrotizing enterocolitis; programmed cell death; treatment strategies.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
NEC induces programmed death of IECs. Programmed cell death including apoptosis, necroptosis, pyroptosis, ferroptosis and autophagy occurs in IECs during the development of NEC, resulting in the damage to the IEB. The figure shows the signaling pathways in different death types of IECs.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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