# PHYLOGENOMIC, TRANSCRIPTOMIC, VIROMIC, AND IMMUNOPROTEOMIC DETERMINANTS OF NECROTIZING ENTEROCOLITIS

> **NIH NIH R01** · WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $608,245

## Abstract

Project Summary
 Necrotizing enterocolitis in very low birth weight infants remains a major challenge. Our reactive clinical
approach to necrotizing enterocolitis has changed little in four decades. Morbidity and mortality from
necrotizing enterocolitis remain unacceptably high, and preventive strategies rely on interventions with limited,
if any, efficacy. We have assembled an extensive set of specimens, accompanied by rich clinical metadata,
with which to define mechanisms that underlie the development of necrotizing enterocolitis in very preterm
infants. Our proposal extends our recently published findings that a gut bacterial dysbiosis, characterized by
over-representation of Gammaproteobacteria and under-representation of obligate anaerobic bacteria,
precede, and plausibly contribute to, the development of necrotizing enterocolitis.
 Our overarching hypothesis is that identifiable microbial and/or host mechanisms signify an infant at
risk for necrotizing enterocolitis. Our long-term goals are to use our knowledge of microbial-driven
pathophysiology in necrotizing enterocolitis to build interventions to prevent the assembly of dysbiotic gut
bacterial populations, to characterize the host biology prior to the sudden appearance of necrotizing
enterocolitis. By generating these data, we hope to lessen the severity of necrotizing enterocolitis, or to prevent
it altogether.
 Our Specific Aims are: (1) Conduct a comprehensive genomic analysis of gut bacteria prior to
necrotizing enterocolitis onset, and (2) Define the gut biology and host response prior to necrotizing
enterocolitis onset. All specimens from cases will be those obtained before this event occurred. Control
materials will be matched to cases, according to gestational age at birth, and day of life specimens were
produced.
 To accomplish these Aims, we will use our archive of pre-event stools and sera/plasmas from 977 very
low birthweight infants from three neonatal intensive care units. Forty-six of these infants experienced NEC,
after excluding those who also had congenital heart disease. We will employ genomic characterization of
isolates, transcriptomics, metabolomics, viromics, and immunoproteomics in coordinated analyses to illuminate
microbial and host biology underlying necrotizing enterocolitis. We will also interrogate populations of bacteria
associated with protection from necrotizing enterocolitis. All studies will initially analyze a primary cohort from
St. Louis, and then validate findings in specimens from Oklahoma City and Louisville. These case-control and
time-series comparisons will provide mechanistic insight into an intractable and highly consequential
complication of preterm birth, using an exceptionally relevant system, i.e., the colonized human infant.
 By project conclusion, we will generate mechanistically-informed data to guide attempts to better
anticipate, treat, or, ideally, prevent, necrotizing enterocolitis, a devastating complication of preterm birth.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9928445
- **Project number:** 5R01HD092414-04
- **Recipient organization:** WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Gautam Dantas
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $608,245
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-09-06 → 2022-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9928445

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9928445, PHYLOGENOMIC, TRANSCRIPTOMIC, VIROMIC, AND IMMUNOPROTEOMIC DETERMINANTS OF NECROTIZING ENTEROCOLITIS (5R01HD092414-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9928445. Licensed CC0.

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