IFN-γ mediates Paneth cell death via suppression of mTOR
- University of Rochester Medical Center, United States
- The Fox Chase Cancer Center, United States
Abstract
Paneth cells constitutively produce antimicrobial peptides and growth factors that allow for intestinal homeostasis, host protection and intestinal stem cell replication. Paneth cells rely heavily on the glycolytic metabolic program, which is in part controlled by the kinase complex Mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTORC1). Yet, little is known about mTOR importance in Paneth cell integrity under steady state and inflammatory conditions. Our results demonstrate that IFN-γ, a crucial mediator of the intestinal inflammation, acts directly on murine Paneth cells to alter their mitochondrial integrity and membrane potential, resulting in an mTORC1-dependent cell death mechanism distinct from canonical cell death pathways including apoptosis, necroptosis, and pyroptosis. These results were established with the purified cytokine and a physiologically relevant common Th1-inducing human parasite Toxoplasma gondii. Given the crucial role for IFN-γ, which is a cytokine frequently associated with the development of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and compromised Paneth cell functions, the identified mechanisms underlying mTORC1-dependent Paneth cell death downstream of IFN-γ may provide promising novel approaches for treating intestinal inflammation.
Data availability
All data generated or analysed during this study are included in the manuscript and supporting files.
Article and author information
Author details
Américo López-Yglesias
Funding
National Institutes of Health (R01AI136538)
- Felix Yarovinsky
National Institutes of Health (R01AI121090)
- Felix Yarovinsky
National Institutes of Health (CA218133)
- Sergei Grivennikov
National Institutes of Health (CA227629)
- Sergei Grivennikov
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 maintained at in the pathogen-free American Association of Laboratory Animal Care-accredited animal facility at the University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY.All animal experimentation (animal protocol #102122) has been reviewed and approved by the University Committee on Animal Resources (UCAR).
Copyright
© 2021, Araujo 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
-
- 2,578
- views
-
- 426
- downloads
-
- 26
- 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)
IFN-γ mediates Paneth cell death via suppression of mTOR
eLife 10:e60478.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.60478
Further reading
-
- Genetics and Genomics
- Immunology and Inflammation
Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease, the pathophysiology and genetic basis of which are incompletely understood. Using a forward genetic screen in multiplex families with SLE, we identified an association between SLE and compound heterozygous deleterious variants in the non-receptor tyrosine kinases (NRTKs) ACK1 and BRK. Experimental blockade of ACK1 or BRK increased circulating autoantibodies in vivo in mice and exacerbated glomerular IgG deposits in an SLE mouse model. Mechanistically, NRTKs regulate activation, migration, and proliferation of immune cells. We found that the patients’ ACK1 and BRK variants impair efferocytosis, the MERTK-mediated anti-inflammatory response to apoptotic cells, in human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC)-derived macrophages, which may contribute to SLE pathogenesis. Overall, our data suggest that ACK1 and BRK deficiencies are associated with human SLE and impair efferocytosis in macrophages.
-
- Immunology and Inflammation
The adaptive T cell response is accompanied by continuous rewiring of the T cell’s electric and metabolic state. Ion channels and nutrient transporters integrate bioelectric and biochemical signals from the environment, setting cellular electric and metabolic states. Divergent electric and metabolic states contribute to T cell immunity or tolerance. Here, we report in mice that neuritin (Nrn1) contributes to tolerance development by modulating regulatory and effector T cell function. Nrn1 expression in regulatory T cells promotes its expansion and suppression function, while expression in the T effector cell dampens its inflammatory response. Nrn1 deficiency in mice causes dysregulation of ion channel and nutrient transporter expression in Treg and effector T cells, resulting in divergent metabolic outcomes and impacting autoimmune disease progression and recovery. These findings identify a novel immune function of the neurotrophic factor Nrn1 in regulating the T cell metabolic state in a cell context-dependent manner and modulating the outcome of an immune response.
