Background: Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is resistant to single-agent immunotherapies. To understand the mechanisms leading to the poor response to this treatment, a better understanding of the PDAC immune landscape is required. The present work aims to study the immune profile in PDAC in relationship to spatial heterogeneity of the tissue microenvironment (TME) in intact tissues. Methods: Serial section and multiplex in situ analysis were performed in 42 PDAC samples to assess gene and protein expression at single-cell resolution in the: (a) tumor center (TC), (b) invasive front (IF), (c) normal parenchyma adjacent to the tumor, and (d) tumor positive and negative draining lymph nodes (LNs). Results: We observed: (a) enrichment of T cell subpopulations with exhausted and senescent phenotype in the TC, IF and tumor positive LNs; (b) a dominant type 2 immune response in the TME, which is more pronounced in the TC; (c) an emerging role of CD47-SIRPα axis; and (d) a similar immune cell topography independently of the neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Conclusion: This study reveals the existence of dysfunctional T lymphocytes with specific spatial distribution, thus opening a new dimension both conceptually and mechanistically in tumor-stroma interaction in PDAC with potential impact on the efficacy of immune-regulatory therapeutic modalities.

Introduction: Typhoid toxin-expressing Salmonella enterica causes DNA damage in the intestinal mucosa in vivo, activating the DNA damage response (DDR) in the absence of inflammation. To understand whether the tissue microenvironment constrains the infection outcome, we compared the immune response and DDR patterns in the colon and liver of mice infected with a genotoxigenic strain or its isogenic control strain.Methods: In situ spatial transcriptomic and immunofluorescence have been used to assess DNA damage makers, activation of the DDR, innate immunity markers in a multiparametric analysis.Result: The presence of the typhoid toxin protected from colonic bacteria-induced inflammation, despite nuclear localization of p53, enhanced co-expression of type-I interferons (IfnbI) and the inflammasome sensor Aim2, both classic features of DNA-break-induced DDR activation. These effects were not observed in the livers of either infected group. Instead, in this tissue, the inflammatory response and DDR were associated with high oxidative stress-induced DNA damage.Conclusions: Our work highlights the relevance of the tissue microenvironment in enabling the typhoid toxin to suppress the host inflammatory response in vivo.

The idea that bacterial toxins are not only killers but also execute more sophisticated roles during bacteria–host interactions by acting as negotiators has been highlighted in the past decades. Depending on the toxin, its cellular target and mode of action, the final regulatory outcome can be different. In this review, we have focused on two families of bacterial toxins: genotoxins and pore-forming toxins, which have different modes of action but share the ability to modulate the host’s immune responses, independently of their capacity to directly kill immune cells. We have addressed their immuno-suppressive effects with the perspective that these may help bacteria to avoid clearance by the host’s immune response and, concomitantly, limit detrimental immunopathology. These are optimal conditions for the establishment of a persistent infection, eventually promoting asymptomatic carriers. This immunomodulatory effect can be achieved with different strategies such as suppression of pro-inflammatory cytokines, re-polarization of the immune response from a pro-inflammatory to a tolerogenic state, and bacterial fitness modulation to favour tissue colonization while preventing bacteraemia. An imbalance in each of those effects can lead to disease due to either uncontrolled bacterial proliferation/invasion, immunopathology, or both.

CRC development is a complex disease driven by the interplay between genetic mutations, diet, gut microbiota and inflammation. However, how these factors work together to exert their effect on disease initiation and progression is still unclear. In this study, we investigated the effects of a 10% low carbohydrate (10% LC) diet and a normal diet supplemented with 10% pectin from apple (ND+10% Pec) on CRC progression and colonic homeostasis. We showed that although these dietary regimens had differential effects on the gut microbiota and the production of butyrate, they both reduced CRC development in the APC ^Min/+ Msh2 ^-/- mouse model. 10% LC diet strongly reduced the number of goblet cells while ND+10% Pec had no such effect, but both regimens induced upregulation of Muc-2 . The changes in the gut microbiota, butyrate levels and increased Muc-2 expression, however, trigger endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress. Our results show that a 10% LC diet triggered endoplasmic reticulum stress (ER stress) via induction of the PERK pathway, while ND+10% Pec also increased the splicing of the XBP1. In addition, both diets induced dramatic expression of the heat shock proteins Hsp27 and Hsp70, further resulting in increased barrier function. These events are likely to protect the cells and help them cope with environmental changes. However, the induced cellular stress conditions, known to suppress cell proliferation, could be a mechanism through which these regimens attenuate CRC.