AQP5 enriches for stem cells and cancer origins in the distal stomach.

LGR5 marks resident adult epithelial stem cells at the gland base in the mouse pyloric stomach1, but the identity of the equivalent human stem cell population remains unknown owing to a lack of surface markers that facilitate its prospective isolation and validation. In mouse models of intestinal cancer, LGR5+ intestinal stem cells are major sources of cancer following hyperactivation of the WNT pathway2. However, the contribution of pyloric LGR5+ stem cells to gastric cancer following dysregulation of the WNT pathway-a frequent event in gastric cancer in humans3-is unknown. Here we use comparative profiling of LGR5+ stem cell populations along the mouse gastrointestinal tract to identify, and then functionally validate, the membrane protein AQP5 as a marker that enriches for mouse and human adult pyloric stem cells. We show that stem cells within the AQP5+ compartment are a source of WNT-driven, invasive gastric cancer in vivo, using newly generated Aqp5-creERT2 mouse models. Additionally, tumour-resident AQP5+ cells can selectively initiate organoid growth in vitro, which indicates that this population contains potential cancer stem cells. In humans, AQP5 is frequently expressed in primary intestinal and diffuse subtypes of gastric cancer (and in metastases of these subtypes), and often displays altered cellular localization compared with healthy tissue. These newly identified markers and mouse models will be an invaluable resource for deciphering the early formation of gastric cancer, and for isolating and characterizing human-stomach stem cells as a prerequisite for harnessing the regenerative-medicine potential of these cells in the clinic.

TMEM203 is a binding partner and regulator of STING-mediated inflammatory signaling in macrophages.

Regulation of IFN signaling is critical in host recognition and response to pathogens while its dysregulation underlies the pathogenesis of several chronic diseases. STimulator of IFN Genes (STING) has been identified as a critical mediator of IFN inducing innate immune pathways, but little is known about direct coregulators of this protein. We report here that TMEM203, a conserved putative transmembrane protein, is an intracellular regulator of STING-mediated signaling. We show that TMEM203 interacts, functionally cooperates, and comigrates with STING following cell stimulation, which in turn leads to the activation of the kinase TBK1, and the IRF3 transcription factor. This induces target genes in macrophages, including IFN-ß. Using Tmem203 knockout bone marrow-derived macrophages and transient knockdown of TMEM203 in human monocyte-derived macrophages, we show that TMEM203 protein is required for cGAMP-induced STING activation. Unlike STING, TMEM203 mRNA levels are elevated in T cells from patients with systemic lupus erythematosus, a disease characterized by the overexpression of type I interferons. Moreover, TMEM203 mRNA levels are associated with disease activity, as assessed by serum levels of the complement protein C3. Identification of TMEM203 sheds light into the control of STING-mediated innate immune responses, providing a potential novel mechanism for therapeutic interventions in STING-associated inflammatory diseases.

Multi-parametric phospho-flow cytometry: a crucial tool for T lymphocyte signaling studies.

Tools such as protein immunoblotting have proven benefits for investigating T lymphocyte signaling but have several drawbacks such as the number of cells required and the difficulty of distinguishing subset-specific differences without expensive and invasive cell sorting. Recent advances in immunology and the identification of T lymphocyte sub-populations making up only a very small fraction of the total population highlight the importance of studying signaling in those small subsets in a feasible, cost-effective, high-throughput manner. To this end, we have developed a simplified protocol to study both intracellular phosphorylation patterns of important signal transduction molecules concomitantly with T cell surface marker expression. A multi-parametric analysis may allow the quantification of the phosphorylation of up to five signaling molecules in CD4 and CD8 T lymphocytes and their naïve, central memory, effector memory, and TEMRA subsets. This enables precise identification of subset-specific signaling and alterations of signaling pathways in physiological and pathological situations. The importance of such detailed analysis is discussed.

Mitochondrial Dysfunction in CD4+ T Effector Memory RA+ Cells.

Human ageing is accompanied by poor responses to infection and decreased vaccine efficacy. While the causes of this can be attributed to defects in the immune system that increase with age, it is unknown whether mitochondrial dysfunction may also contribute to these phenomena. This study aims to assess mitochondrial dysfunction in CD4+ terminal effector memory T cells re-expressing CD45RA (TEMRA) cells and other CD4+ memory T cell subtypes, which are increased in number in the elderly population, with respect to how their metabolic responses to stimulation are altered compared to CD4+ naïve T cells. In this study, we show that CD4+ TEMRA cells exhibit altered mitochondrial dynamics compared to CD4+ naïve cells and CD4+ central and effector memory cells, with a 25% reduction in OPA1 expression. CD4+ TEMRA and memory cells show increased upregulation of Glucose transporter 1 following stimulation and higher levels of mitochondrial mass compared to CD4+ naïve T cells. Additionally, TEMRA cells exhibit a decrease in mitochondrial membrane potential compared to other CD4+ memory cell subsets by up to 50%. By comparing young to aged individuals, more significant mitochondria mass and lower membrane potential were observed in CD4+ TEMRA of young individuals. In conclusion, we suggest that CD4+ TEMRA cells may be impaired with respect to their metabolic response to stimulation, possibly contributing to impaired responses to infection and vaccination.

CD4+ natural regulatory T cells prevent experimental cerebral malaria via CTLA-4 when expanded in vivo.

Studies in malaria patients indicate that higher frequencies of peripheral blood CD4(+) Foxp3(+) CD25(+) regulatory T (Treg) cells correlate with increased blood parasitemia. This observation implies that Treg cells impair pathogen clearance and thus may be detrimental to the host during infection. In C57BL/6 mice infected with Plasmodium berghei ANKA, depletion of Foxp3(+) cells did not improve parasite control or disease outcome. In contrast, elevating frequencies of natural Treg cells in vivo using IL-2/anti-IL-2 complexes resulted in complete protection against severe disease. This protection was entirely dependent upon Foxp3(+) cells and resulted in lower parasite biomass, impaired antigen-specific CD4(+) T and CD8(+) T cell responses that would normally promote parasite tissue sequestration in this model, and reduced recruitment of conventional T cells to the brain. Furthermore, Foxp3(+) cell-mediated protection was dependent upon CTLA-4 but not IL-10. These data show that T cell-mediated parasite tissue sequestration can be reduced by regulatory T cells in a mouse model of malaria, thereby limiting malaria-induced immune pathology.

RNA-Seq Signatures Normalized by mRNA Abundance Allow Absolute Deconvolution of Human Immune Cell Types.

The molecular characterization of immune subsets is important for designing effective strategies to understand and treat diseases. We characterized 29 immune cell types within the peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) fraction of healthy donors using RNA-seq (RNA sequencing) and flow cytometry. Our dataset was used, first, to identify sets of genes that are specific, are co-expressed, and have housekeeping roles across the 29 cell types. Then, we examined differences in mRNA heterogeneity and mRNA abundance revealing cell type specificity. Last, we performed absolute deconvolution on a suitable set of immune cell types using transcriptomics signatures normalized by mRNA abundance. Absolute deconvolution is ready to use for PBMC transcriptomic data using our Shiny app (https://github.com/giannimonaco/ABIS). We benchmarked different deconvolution and normalization methods and validated the resources in independent cohorts. Our work has research, clinical, and diagnostic value by making it possible to effectively associate observations in bulk transcriptomics data to specific immune subsets.