Given the importance of TLR4 activation in the pathogenesis of NEC, this finding helps to explain why NEC is most commonly a disease of premature infants, suggesting that there may be physiological importance to the developmental stage from which NEC-in-a-dish models are derived (Leaphart et al., 2007; Lu et al., 2014b). This evidence concerns the gene TLR4 and necrotizing enterocolitis.