# Mechanisms of fasting-induced radioprotection of small intestinal epithelial cells

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF TX MD ANDERSON CAN CTR · 2024 · $628,444

## Abstract

Project Summary
We demonstrated that short-term fasting protects mice from high dose ionizing radiation by protecting small
intestinal (SI) stem cells, thereby preserving SI homeostasis and promoting organismal survival. We also
showed that the major ketone body produced by fasting directly modifies the epigenome of SI epithelial cells to
induce gene expression changes and that fasting alters the gut microbiome to favor bacteria whose
metabolites are known to induce epigenetic and gene expression changes. We will test the hypothesis that
ketone bodies and microbial metabolites induced by fasting, cause epigenetic and gene expression changes in
SI epithelial cells thereby providing GI radioprotection.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10848365
- **Project number:** 5R01CA269495-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF TX MD ANDERSON CAN CTR
- **Principal Investigator:** HELEN M PIWNICA-WORMS
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $628,444
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2023-06-01 → 2028-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10848365

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10848365, Mechanisms of fasting-induced radioprotection of small intestinal epithelial cells (5R01CA269495-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10848365. Licensed CC0.

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