Am J Physiol Gastrointest Liver Physiol. 2022 Sep 27.
Peter Flood,
Aine Fanning,
Jerzy A Woznicki,
Tadhg Crowley,
Andrea Christopher,
Alessandra Vaccaro,
Aileen Houston,
Sheila McSweeney,
Sarah Ross,
Aileen Hogan,
Elizabeth Brint,
Agnieszka Skowyra,
Milan Bustamante,
Monica Ambrose,
Gerard M Moloney,
John MacSharry,
Marie-Louise Hammarström,
Margot Hurley,
Christine Fitzgibbons,
Eamonn M M Quigley,
Fergus Shanahan,
Syed A Zulquernain,
Jane McCarthy,
G Steven Dodson,
Karim Dabbagh,
Bradford L McRae,
Silvia Melgar,
Ken Nally.
DNA sensor pathways can initiate inflammasome, cell death and type I interferon (IFN) signalling in immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (IMIDs); including type I interferonopathies. We investigated the involvement of these pathways in the pathogenesis of ulcerative colitis (UC); by analysing expression of DNA sensor, inflammasome, and type I IFN biomarker genes in colonic mucosal biopsy tissue from control (n=31), inactive UC (n=31), active UC (n=33) and a UC single cell RNA-Seq dataset. The effects of type I IFN (IFN-β), IFN-γ and TNF-α on gene expression, cytokine production and cell death were investigated in human colonic organoids. In organoids treated with cytokines alone, or in combination with NLRP3, caspase or JAK inhibitors, cell death was measured, and supernatants were assayed for IL-1β/IL-18/CXCL10. The expression of DNA sensor pathway genes - PYHIN family members (AIM2, IFI16, MNDA, PYHIN1), as well as ZBP1, cGAS and DDX41 were increased in active UC and expressed in a cell type restricted pattern. Inflammasome genes (CASP1, IL1B, IL18), type I IFN inducers (STING, TBK1, IRF3), IFNB1 and type I IFN biomarker genes (OAS2, IFIT2, MX2) were also increased in active UC. Co-treatment of organoids with IFN-β or IFN-γ and TNFα increased expression of IFI16, ZBP1, CASP1, cGAS and STING, induced cell death and IL-1β/IL-18 secretion. This inflammatory cell death was blocked by the JAK inhibitor tofacitinib but not by inflammasome or caspase inhibitors. Increased type I IFN activity may drive elevated expression of DNA sensor genes and JAK-dependent but inflammasome-independent inflammatory cell death of colonic epithelial cells in UC.
Keywords: Cell death; Colonic organoids; DNA sensors; Type I IFN; Ulcerative colitis