How to Catch a Smurf? - Ageing and Beyond… Assessment of Intestinal Permeability in Multiple Model Organisms.

The Smurf Assay (SA) was initially developed in the model organism where a dramatic increase of intestinal permeability has been shown to occur during aging (Rera , 2011). We have since validated the protocol in multiple other model organisms (Dambroise , 2016) and have utilized the assay to further our understanding of aging (Tricoire and Rera, 2015; Rera , 2018). The SA has now also been used by other labs to assess intestinal barrier permeability (Clark , 2015; Katzenberger , 2015; Barekat , 2016; Chakrabarti , 2016; Gelino , 2016). The SA in itself is simple; however, numerous small details can have a considerable impact on its experimental validity and subsequent interpretation. Here, we provide a detailed update on the SA technique and explain how to catch a Smurf while avoiding the most common experimental fallacies.