Bacterial detection by NAIP/NLRC4 elicits prompt contractions of intestinal epithelial cell layers

• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2013963118
• Publication Date: 2021-04-12T20:42:06Z
• Authors: Pilar Samperio Ve...; Petra Geiser; Maria Letizia Di ...; Alexandra Florbrant; Stefan A. Fattinger; Naemi Walder; Eduardo Sima; Feng Shao; Nelson O. Gekara; Magnus Sundbom; Wolf-Dietrich Hardt; Dominic-Luc Webb; Per M. Hellström; Jens Eriksson; Mikael E. Sellin
• Keywords: Salmonella typhimurium; Inflammasomes; organoid; Primary Cell Culture; 610; Pattern Recognition; bacterial infection; epithelium; organoid; inflammasome; contraction; Epithelium; Microbiology in the medical area; Mice; 03 medical and health sciences; inflammasome; Receptors; Mikrobiologi inom det medicinska området; Type III Secretion Systems; Animals; Humans; Intestinal Mucosa; 0303 health sciences; Calcium-Binding Proteins; Caspase 1; bacterial infection; Immunology in the medical area; contraction; Epithelial Cells; Bacterial Infections; Biological Sciences; Neuronal Apoptosis-Inhibitory Protein; CARD Signaling Adaptor Proteins; Intestines; Immunologi inom det medicinska området; Caspases; Receptors, Pattern Recognition; epithelium; Muscle Contraction

Significance Contractile movements in the mammalian intestine typically rely on dedicated muscle cells. Here, we however show that untransformed intestinal epithelial cell layers initiate immediate focal contractions, affecting hundreds to thousands of epithelial cells, in response to bacterial infection. This epithelial contraction response occurs in the absence of other mucosal cell types. Instead, the epithelium itself senses the pathogen intrusion through a pattern recognition receptor complex—NAIP/NLRC4—and initiates actomyosin contractions that propagate across the epithelial layer. Within minutes, this response densifies the cell packing at infection sites and may prevent tissue disintegration during the subsequent stage of epithelial cell death and expulsion. Our results highlight a previously unappreciated dynamic behavior of intestinal epithelia.