Mitochondrial antiviral signaling protein (MAVS) monitors commensal bacteria and induces an immune response that prevents experimental colitis.

RIG-I-like receptors (RLRs) activate host innate immune responses against virus infection through recruiting the mitochondrial adaptor protein MAVS (also known as IPS1, VISA, or CARDIF). Here we show that MAVS also plays a pivotal role in maintaining intestinal homeostasis. We found that MAVS knockout mice developed more severe mortality and morbidity than WT animals in an experimental model of colitis. Bone marrow transplantation experiments revealed that MAVS in cells of nonhematopoietic origin plays a dominant role in the protection against colitis. Importantly, RNA species derived from intestinal commensal bacteria activate the RIG-I-MAVS pathway to induce the production of multiple cytokines and antimicrobial peptides, including IFN-ß and RegIIIγ. These results unveil a previously unexplored role of MAVS in monitoring intestinal commensal bacteria and maintaining tissue homeostasis.

Gammadelta intraepithelial lymphocytes are essential mediators of host-microbial homeostasis at the intestinal mucosal surface.

The mammalian gastrointestinal tract harbors thousands of bacterial species that include symbionts as well as potential pathogens. The immune responses that limit access of these bacteria to underlying tissue remain poorly defined. Here we show that γδ intraepithelial lymphocytes (γδ IEL) of the small intestine produce innate antimicrobial factors in response to resident bacterial "pathobionts" that penetrate the intestinal epithelium. γδ IEL activation was dependent on epithelial cell-intrinsic MyD88, suggesting that epithelial cells supply microbe-dependent cues to γδ IEL. Finally, γδ T cells protect against invasion of intestinal tissues by resident bacteria specifically during the first few hours after bacterial encounter, indicating that γδ IEL occupy a unique temporal niche among intestinal immune defenses. Thus, γδ IEL detect the presence of invading bacteria through cross-talk with neighboring epithelial cells and are an essential component of the hierarchy of immune defenses that maintain homeostasis with the intestinal microbiota.

Reciprocal interactions between commensal bacteria and gamma delta intraepithelial lymphocytes during mucosal injury.

The intestinal mucosal surface is in direct contact with a vast beneficial microbiota. The symbiotic nature of this relationship is threatened when the surface epithelium is injured, yet little is known about how mucosal surfaces maintain homeostasis with commensal microbes following damage. Gammadelta intraepithelial lymphocytes (gammadelta IEL) reside at the gut epithelial surface, where they stimulate mucosal healing following acute injury. A genome-wide analysis of the gammadelta IEL response to dextran sulfate sodium-induced colonic damage revealed induction of a complex transcriptional program, including coordinate regulation of cytoprotective, immunomodulatory, and antibacterial factors. Studies in germfree mice demonstrated that commensal microbiota regulate key components of this transcriptional program, thus revealing a dialogue between commensal bacteria and gammadelta IEL in injured epithelia. Analysis of TCRdelta-deficient mice indicated that gammadelta T cells are essential for controlling mucosal penetration of commensal bacteria immediately following dextran sulfate sodium-induced damage, suggesting that a key function of gammadelta IEL is to maintain host-microbial homeostasis following acute mucosal injury. Taken together, these findings disclose a reciprocal relationship between gammadelta T cells and intestinal microbiota that promotes beneficial host-microbial relationships in the intestine.

Paneth cells directly sense gut commensals and maintain homeostasis at the intestinal host-microbial interface.

The intestinal epithelium is in direct contact with a vast microbiota, yet little is known about how epithelial cells defend the host against the heavy bacterial load. To address this question we studied Paneth cells, a key small intestinal epithelial lineage. We found that Paneth cells directly sense enteric bacteria through cell-autonomous MyD88-dependent toll-like receptor (TLR) activation, triggering expression of multiple antimicrobial factors. Paneth cells were essential for controlling intestinal barrier penetration by commensal and pathogenic bacteria. Furthermore, Paneth cell-intrinsic MyD88 signaling limited bacterial penetration of host tissues, revealing a role for epithelial MyD88 in maintaining intestinal homeostasis. Our findings establish that gut epithelia actively sense enteric bacteria and play an essential role in maintaining host-microbial homeostasis at the mucosal interface.

A Host-Produced Autoinducer-2 Mimic Activates Bacterial Quorum Sensing.

Host-microbial symbioses are vital to health; nonetheless, little is known about the role crosskingdom signaling plays in these relationships. In a process called quorum sensing, bacteria communicate with one another using extracellular signal molecules called autoinducers. One autoinducer, AI-2, is proposed to promote interspecies bacterial communication, including in the mammalian gut. We show that mammalian epithelia produce an AI-2 mimic activity in response to bacteria or tight-junction disruption. This AI-2 mimic is detected by the bacterial AI-2 receptor, LuxP/LsrB, and can activate quorum-sensing-controlled gene expression, including in the enteric pathogen Salmonella typhimurium. AI-2 mimic activity is induced when epithelia are directly or indirectly exposed to bacteria, suggesting that a secreted bacterial component(s) stimulates its production. Mutagenesis revealed genes required for bacteria to both detect and stimulate production of the AI-2 mimic. These findings uncover a potential role for the mammalian AI-2 mimic in fostering crosskingdom signaling and host-bacterial symbioses.

Oxidative stress promotes polarization of human T cell differentiation toward a T helper 2 phenotype.

These studies were conducted to determine the effects of oxidative stress on human T cell differentiation and polarization into Th1 or Th2 phenotypes. Highly purified naive CD4+ T cells were isolated from PBMC of healthy, nonatopic donors. CD4+ T cells were stimulated with anti-CD3 and anti-CD28 mAb in the presence or absence of oxidative stress as supplied by 2,3-dimethoxy-1,4-naphthoquinone (DMNQ), which generates a low level of superoxide anion. Increases in cellular superoxide were observed by exposure to DMNQ. Exposure of unpolarized CD4+ T cells to IL-12 or IL-4 resulted in a Th1 or Th2 phenotype, respectively. T cells stimulated in the absence of polarizing cytokines secreted modest amounts of IFN-gamma and TNF-alpha. Cells stimulated in the continuous presence of 5 microM DMNQ, displayed a marked up-regulation in Th2 cytokines, including IL-4, IL-5, and IL-13, but not the Th1 cytokine IFN-gamma. Th2 responses were blunted by concomitant exposure to thiol antioxidants. Long-term exposure of T cells to DMNQ resulted in growth of cells expressing CCR4, and a decrease in cells expressing CXCR3, indicating phenotypic conversion to Th2 cells. These results suggest that oxidative stress favors a Th2-polarizing condition.

Epithelial cells and their neighbors. IV. Bacterial contributions to intestinal epithelial barrier integrity.

Mammalian intestinal surfaces are in constant and intimate contact with a vast consortium of indigenous commensal bacteria. As a result, gut epithelia have evolved an array of strategies for limiting bacterial invasion into deeper tissues, helping to preserve the mutually beneficial nature of intestinal host-microbial relationships. In this review, we discuss a growing body of evidence indicating that commensal bacteria are actively involved in shaping the very barriers that confine them to the gut lumen. By modulating epithelial inflammatory responses, antimicrobial protein expression, and tissue repair functions, indigenous microbial populations are essential for the maintenance of healthy mucosal surfaces.