Variation in ATG16L1, a protein involved in autophagy, confers risk for Crohn’s disease, but mice with hypomorphic ATG16L1 activity do not develop spontaneous intestinal inflammation; this study shows that autophagy compensates for endoplasmic reticulum stress — common in inflammatory bowel disease epithelium — specifically in Paneth cells, with Crohn’s-disease-like inflammation of the ileum originating from this cell type when both pathways are compromised. Variations in ATG16L1 — a protein involved in autophagy — are risk factors for Crohn's disease, but although mice homozygous for a common ATG16L1 risk allele show abnormal Paneth cell function, they do not develop intestinal inflammation as might be expected. Richard Blumberg and colleagues show that impairment of either autophagy or the unfolded protein response within Paneth cells results in each other's compensatory engagement, but that colitis develops only when both pathways are impaired. This work highlights pharmacological augmentation of autophagy as a possible therapeutic approach to controlling intestinal inflammation. The recognition of autophagy related 16-like 1 (ATG16L1) as a genetic risk factor has exposed the critical role of autophagy in Crohn’s disease1. Homozygosity for the highly prevalent ATG16L1 risk allele, or murine hypomorphic (HM) activity, causes Paneth cell dysfunction2,3. As Atg16l1HM mice do not develop spontaneous intestinal inflammation, the mechanism(s) by which ATG16L1 contributes to disease remains obscure. Deletion of the unfolded protein response (UPR) transcription factor X-box binding protein-1 (Xbp1) in intestinal epithelial cells, the human orthologue of which harbours rare inflammatory bowel disease risk variants, results in endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, Paneth cell impairment and spontaneous enteritis4. Unresolved ER stress is a common feature of inflammatory bowel disease epithelium4,5, and several genetic risk factors of Crohn’s disease affect Paneth cells2,4,6,7,8,9. Here we show that impairment in either UPR (Xbp1ΔIEC) or autophagy function (Atg16l1ΔIEC or Atg7ΔIEC) in intestinal epithelial cells results in each other’s compensatory engagement, and severe spontaneous Crohn’s-disease-like transmural ileitis if both mechanisms are compromised. Xbp1ΔIEC mice show autophagosome formation in hypomorphic Paneth cells, which is linked to ER stress via protein kinase RNA-like endoplasmic reticulum kinase (PERK), elongation initiation factor 2α (eIF2α) and activating transcription factor 4 (ATF4). Ileitis is dependent on commensal microbiota and derives from increased intestinal epithelial cell death, inositol requiring enzyme 1α (IRE1α)-regulated NF-κB activation and tumour-necrosis factor signalling, which are synergistically increased when autophagy is deficient. ATG16L1 restrains IRE1α activity, and augmentation of autophagy in intestinal epithelial cells ameliorates ER stress-induced intestinal inflammation and eases NF-κB overactivation and intestinal epithelial cell death. ER stress, autophagy induction and spontaneous ileitis emerge from Paneth-cell-specific deletion of Xbp1. Genetically and environmentally controlled UPR function within Paneth cells may therefore set the threshold for the development of intestinal inflammation upon hypomorphic ATG16L1 function and implicate ileal Crohn’s disease as a specific disorder of Paneth cells.

Purpose of review To provide an overview of the emerging role of cellular stress responses in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Recent findings The unfolded protein response (UPR) is a primitive cellular pathway that is engaged when responding to endoplasmic reticulum stress and regulates autophagy. Highly secretory cells such as Paneth cells and goblet cells in the intestines are particularly susceptible to endoplasmic reticulum stress and are exceedingly dependent upon a properly functioning UPR to maintain cellular viability and homeostasis. Primary genetic abnormalities within the components of the UPR (e.g. XBP1, ARG2, ORMDL3), genes that encode proteins reliant upon a robust secretory pathway (e.g. MUC2, HLAB27) and environmental factors that create disturbances in the UPR (e.g. microbial products and inflammatory cytokines) are important factors in the primary development and/or perpetuation of intestinal inflammation. Summary Endoplasmic reticulum stress is an important new pathway involved in the development of intestinal inflammation associated with IBD and likely other intestinal inflammatory disorders.

Gd T lymphocytes in the diagnosis of human T cell receptor immunodeficiencies

Del Moral MG, et al. Immune Netw. 2017 Jun;17(3):133-143. https://doi.org/10.4110/in.2017.17.3.133

HLA-A*2402 is common and widely distributed in human populations. Several individuals were identified who type genotypically for A*2402, but are serologically null for the HLA-A24 Ag. Sequencing and transfection of genomic DNA fragments containing null and wild-type A*2402 alleles, and the related A*2301 allele, revealed three different null alleles (A*2409N, A*2411N, and A*2402(low)), each of which differs from A*2402 by a single nucleotide change within the 6.7-kb sequence. The A*2301 and A*2402 sequences differ by no substitutions additional to those previously determined for the 1.1-kb cDNA. In exon 4, A*2409N has an in-frame stop codon, while A*2411N has a nucleotide insertion that alters the reading frame, causing premature termination. A*2402(low) has a nucleotide substitution near the splice acceptor site for intron 2 that impairs the production of correctly spliced mRNA. For A*2409N and A*2411N, mRNA is undetectable by Northern analysis, whereas A*2402(low) produces a low level of mRNA and a concomitant amount of normal A*2402 protein at the cell surface. The protein expressed from the A*2402(low) allele is sufficient to stimulate an alloreactive T cell response. On a background of unexpected sequence homogeneity, the single nucleotide changes in the A*2409N, A*2411, and A*2402(low) alleles have dramatic effects upon gene expression and are of likely importance for HLA matching in clinical transplantation. Segregation of at least three independently inactivated A*2402 alleles in human populations raises the possibility that loss of A*2402 may be the result of natural selection.

Dendritic cells (DC) play an important role in innate and adaptive immunity, interacting with T cells, NK, and NKT cells. A critical step in the interaction of the parasitic protozoa Leishmania with their host is the evasion of both innate and adaptive immunity, producing a long-lasting chronic infection. There is growing evidence that these parasites can modify the Ag-presenting and immunoregulatory functions of DCs. The cells and mechanisms involved in innate immune response against Leishmania are still poorly understood. In this study, we investigated how Leishmania infantum infection affects DC interactions with NK and invariant NKT (iNKTs) cells in humans. We found that infected immature DCs (iDCs) do not up-regulate HLA class I molecules. Despite this, iDCs become resistant to killing mediated by autologous NK cells due to the up-regulation of HLA-E expression, which protects target cells from NK-mediated lysis through interaction with the inhibitory receptor CD94/NKG2A. Furthermore, iDCs infected with L. infantum up-regulate CD1d cell surface expression and consequently can be efficiently recognized and killed by iNKT cells that produce IFN-γ. These data suggest that L. infantum could be able to evade NK recognition; in contrast, iNKTs may play an important role in the immune response against Leishmania.