{"id":445776,"date":"2026-05-17T05:20:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-17T05:20:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/445776\/"},"modified":"2026-05-17T05:20:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-17T05:20:09","slug":"hebrew-university-study-shows-how-your-bodys-stem-cells-fight-salmonella","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/445776\/","title":{"rendered":"Hebrew University study shows how your body\u2019s stem cells fight Salmonella"},"content":{"rendered":"

A breakthrough study published on Tuesday by Hebrew University<\/a> shows that stem cells in the gut actively defend the body against dangerous infections like Salmonella.<\/p>\n

The peer-reviewed study found that intestinal stem cells can actively respond to Salmonella infection and help protect the gut from bacterial<\/a> invasion.<\/p>\n

The research paper, titled \u201cAn inflammasome-driven differentiation program in intestinal stem cells protects against Salmonella infection,\u201d which was led by PhD student Sacha Lebon and published in the Nature Immunology magazine, demonstrates that intestinal stem cells can directly sense intracellular Salmonella enterica bacteria and activate an inflammasome-dependent response.<\/p>\n

This is a natural immune response<\/a> that relies on the formation and activation of a multiprotein complex called an inflammasome to defend against pathogens or cellular stress.<\/p>\n

Salmonella is a bacterial genus that causes a common foodborne intestinal illness, with gastrointestinal symptoms developing within 72 hours of exposure. Most Salmonella infections resolve in a few days without specific treatment, and this study from the Hebrew University shows why.<\/p>\n

\"AnAn aerial view of Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s Mount Scopus campus. (credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)<\/p>\n

The study found that when a Salmonella infection is detected, stem cells in your gut rapidly differentiate into specialized cells<\/a> known as antimicrobial Paneth cells.<\/p>\n

Antimicrobial Paneth cells secrete molecules that help limit bacterial persistence, making it harder for illness-causing bacteria to survive in the gut.<\/p>\n

Study mapped early responses to Salmonella<\/p>\n

Dr. Matan Hofree, who supervised the study, explained: \u201cOur findings show that intestinal stem cells are not only responsible for tissue regeneration, but also participate directly in the early defense against bacterial infection.\u201d<\/p>\n

Using single-cell RNA sequencing, lineage tracing, organoid models, and genetic perturbation approaches, the team mapped early responses to Salmonella infection at high resolution.<\/p>\n

The study identified a rapid remodeling process in the intestinal epithelium driven by stem-cell differentiation toward antimicrobial cell types.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur results suggest that stem cell differentiation is part of an intrinsic protective program that helps preserve intestinal function during infection,\u201d said Dr. Moshe Biton, the study\u2019s supervisor from the Weizmann Institute.<\/p>\n

The study also found a link between the Salmonella-associated stem cell signature and Crohn\u2019s disease.<\/p>\n

They saw that the stem cell signature was enriched in the intestinal stem cells of patients with Crohn\u2019s disease – pointing to a possible connection between epithelial defense pathways, the first line of defense in the body\u2019s immune response, and inflammatory bowel disease.<\/p>\n

The work was carried out in collaboration among researchers at the Weizmann Institute of Science, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Sheba Medical Center, Hadassah\u2013Hebrew University Medical Center, Tel Aviv University, and Cincinnati Children\u2019s Hospital Medical Center.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A breakthrough study published on Tuesday by Hebrew University shows that stem cells in the gut actively defend…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":445777,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[3486,163,23950,85,46,18382,29938,9438],"class_list":["post-445776","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-bacteria","tag-health","tag-hebrew-university-of-jerusalem","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-medical-study","tag-salmonella","tag-stem-cells"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/445776","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=445776"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/445776\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/445777"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=445776"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=445776"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=445776"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}