Neutrophils promote CXCR3-dependent itch in the development of atopic dermatitis
- University of California, Berkeley, United States
Abstract
Chronic itch remains a highly prevalent disorder with limited treatment options. Most chronic itch diseases are thought to be driven by both the nervous and immune systems, but the fundamental molecular and cellular interactions that trigger the development of itch and the acute-to-chronic itch transition remain unknown. Here, we show that skin-infiltrating neutrophils are key initiators of itch in atopic dermatitis, the most prevalent chronic itch disorder. Neutrophil depletion significantly attenuated itch-evoked scratching in a mouse model of atopic dermatitis. Neutrophils were also required for several key hallmarks of chronic itch, including skin hyperinnervation, enhanced expression of itch signaling molecules, and upregulation of inflammatory cytokines, activity-induced genes, and markers of neuropathic itch. Finally, we demonstrate that neutrophils are required for induction of CXCL10, a ligand of the CXCR3 receptor that promotes itch via activation of sensory neurons, and we find that that CXCR3 antagonism attenuates chronic itch.
Data availability
All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in the manuscript and supporting files. Data from RNA-seq experiments are uploaded to GEO under accession codes GSE132173 and GSE132174. Processed sequencing data (DESeq output tables) are provided as a Supplementary Data file. Code used to analyze data is available at https://github.com/rzhill/10.1101-653873.
-
RNA-seq of tissues from MC903- and Ethanol-treated miceNCBI Gene Expression Omnibus, GSE132173.
-
SLIGRL-induced gene expression changes in NHEK cellsNCBI Gene Expression Omnibus, GSE132174.
Article and author information
Author details
Funding
National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (AR059385)
- Diana M Bautista
National Eye Institute (EY026082)
- Karsten Gronert
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NS098097)
- Rachel B Brem
- Diana M Bautista
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NS07224)
- Rachel B Brem
- Diana M Bautista
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
- Diana M Bautista
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (AI072429)
- Gregory M Barton
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (AI063302)
- Gregory M Barton
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (AI104914)
- Gregory M Barton
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (AI105184)
- Gregory M Barton
Burroughs Wellcome Fund
- Gregory M Barton
Human Frontier Science Program (LT-000081/2013-L)
- Jacques Deguine
The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.
Ethics
Animal experimentation: All mice were housed in standard conditions in accordance with standards approved by the Animal Care and Use Committee of the University of California Berkeley. All experiments were performed under the policies and recommendations of the International Association for the Study of Pain and approved by the University of California Berkeley Animal Care and Use Committee (Protocol Number: 2017-02-9550).
Copyright
© 2019, Walsh et al.
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.
Metrics
-
- 7,284
- views
-
- 1,044
- downloads
-
- 103
- citations
Views, downloads and citations are aggregated across all versions of this paper published by eLife.
Download links
A two-part list of links to download the article, or parts of the article, in various formats.
Downloads (link to download the article as PDF)
Open citations (links to open the citations from this article in various online reference manager services)
Cite this article (links to download the citations from this article in formats compatible with various reference manager tools)
Neutrophils promote CXCR3-dependent itch in the development of atopic dermatitis
eLife 8:e48448.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.48448
Further reading
-
- Immunology and Inflammation
- Microbiology and Infectious Disease
The chemokine CCL28 is highly expressed in mucosal tissues, but its role during infection is not well understood. Here, we show that CCL28 promotes neutrophil accumulation in the gut of mice infected with Salmonella and in the lung of mice infected with Acinetobacter. Neutrophils isolated from the infected mucosa expressed the CCL28 receptors CCR3 and, to a lesser extent, CCR10, on their surface. The functional consequences of CCL28 deficiency varied between the two infections: Ccl28−/− mice were highly susceptible to Salmonella gut infection but highly resistant to otherwise lethal Acinetobacter lung infection. In vitro, unstimulated neutrophils harbored pre-formed intracellular CCR3 that was rapidly mobilized to the cell surface following phagocytosis or inflammatory stimuli. Moreover, CCL28 stimulation enhanced neutrophil antimicrobial activity, production of reactive oxygen species, and formation of extracellular traps, all processes largely dependent on CCR3. Consistent with the different outcomes in the two infection models, neutrophil stimulation with CCL28 boosted the killing of Salmonella but not Acinetobacter. CCL28 thus plays a critical role in the immune response to mucosal pathogens by increasing neutrophil accumulation and activation, which can enhance pathogen clearance but also exacerbate disease depending on the mucosal site and the infectious agent.
-
- Evolutionary Biology
- Immunology and Inflammation
The incessant arms race between viruses and hosts has led to numerous evolutionary innovations that shape life’s evolution. During this process, the interactions between viral receptors and viruses have garnered significant interest since viral receptors are cell surface proteins exploited by viruses to initiate infection. Our study sheds light on the arms race between the MDA5 receptor and 5’ppp-RNA virus in a lower vertebrate fish, Miichthys miiuy. Firstly, the frequent and independent loss events of RIG-I in vertebrates prompted us to search for alternative immune substitutes, with homology-dependent genetic compensation response (HDGCR) being the main pathway. Our further analysis suggested that MDA5 of M. miiuy and Gallus gallus, the homolog of RIG-I, can replace RIG-I in recognizing 5’ppp-RNA virus, which may lead to redundancy of RIG-I and loss from the species genome during evolution. Secondly, as an adversarial strategy, 5’ppp-RNA SCRV can utilize the m6A methylation mechanism to degrade MDA5 and weaken its antiviral immune ability, thus promoting its own replication and immune evasion. In summary, our study provides a snapshot into the interaction and coevolution between vertebrate and virus, offering valuable perspectives on the ecological and evolutionary factors that contribute to the diversity of the immune system.
