A mouse model for Crohn's disease

Immunology Although several mouse models of inflammatory bowel disease exist, Crohn's disease has been particularly difficult to model. Caruso et al. report a mouse model that recapitulates multiple hallmarks of intestinal inflammation seen in patients with Crohn's disease. Mice lacking two proteins, NOD2 and CYBB, develop spontaneous colitis that is driven by a Gram-negative gut bacterium, Mucispirillum schaedleri . Mice deficient in both NOD2 and CYBB developed colitis only after weaning because maternal antibodies protected them before weaning. In addition to developing a model for studying Crohn's disease, the study also highlights the importance of maternal antibodies in regulating immune homeostasis in early life. Sci. Immunol. 4 , eaaw4341 (2019).