Tuft cells, taste-chemosensory cells, orchestrate parasite type 2 immunity in the gut.

TitleTuft cells, taste-chemosensory cells, orchestrate parasite type 2 immunity in the gut.
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2016
AuthorsHowitt MR, Lavoie S, Michaud M, Blum AM, Tran SV, Weinstock JV, Gallini CAnn, Redding K, Margolskee RF, Osborne LC, Artis D, Garrett WS
JournalScience
Volume351
Issue6279
Pagination1329-33
Date Published2016 Mar 18
ISSN1095-9203
KeywordsAnimals, Chemoreceptor Cells, Eosinophils, Goblet Cells, Helminthiasis, Helminths, Immunity, Mucosal, Interleukin-13, Interleukin-17, Intestinal Diseases, Parasitic, Intestinal Mucosa, Mice, Mice, Inbred C57BL, Mice, Mutant Strains, Microbiota, Protein-Serine-Threonine Kinases, Protozoan Infections, Signal Transduction, Taste, Transducin, Tritrichomonas, TRPM Cation Channels
Abstract

The intestinal epithelium forms an essential barrier between a host and its microbiota. Protozoa and helminths are members of the gut microbiota of mammals, including humans, yet the many ways that gut epithelial cells orchestrate responses to these eukaryotes remain unclear. Here we show that tuft cells, which are taste-chemosensory epithelial cells, accumulate during parasite colonization and infection. Disruption of chemosensory signaling through the loss of TRMP5 abrogates the expansion of tuft cells, goblet cells, eosinophils, and type 2 innate lymphoid cells during parasite colonization. Tuft cells are the primary source of the parasite-induced cytokine interleukin-25, which indirectly induces tuft cell expansion by promoting interleukin-13 production by innate lymphoid cells. Our results identify intestinal tuft cells as critical sentinels in the gut epithelium that promote type 2 immunity in response to intestinal parasites.

DOI10.1126/science.aaf1648
Alternate JournalScience
PubMed ID26847546
Grant ListR01 GM099531 / GM / NIGMS NIH HHS / United States
R01 DC003055 / DC / NIDCD NIH HHS / United States
R01 CA202704 / CA / NCI NIH HHS / United States
K08 AI078942 / AI / NIAID NIH HHS / United States
R01 CA154426 / CA / NCI NIH HHS / United States
F32DK098826 / DK / NIDDK NIH HHS / United States
F31DK105653 / DK / NIDDK NIH HHS / United States