In Macrophages, Caspase-1 Activation by SopE and the Type III Secretion System-1 of S. Typhimurium Can Proceed in the Absence of Flagellin

The innate immune system is of vital importance for protection against infectious pathogens. Inflammasome mediated caspase-1 activation and subsequent release of pro-inflammatory cytokines like IL-1β and IL-18 is an important arm of the innate immune system. Salmonella enterica subspecies 1 serovar Typhimurium (S. Typhimurium, SL1344) is an enteropathogenic bacterium causing diarrheal diseases. Different reports have shown that in macrophages, S. Typhimurium may activate caspase-1 by at least three different types of stimuli: flagellin, the type III secretion system 1 (T1) and the T1 effector protein SopE. However, the relative importance and interdependence of the different factors in caspase-1 activation is still a matter of debate. Here, we have analyzed their relative contributions to caspase-1 activation in LPS-pretreated RAW264.7 macrophages. Using flagellar mutants (fliGHI, flgK) and centrifugation to mediate pathogen-host cell contact, we show that flagellins account for a small part of the caspase-1 activation in RAW264.7 cells. In addition, functional flagella are of key importance for motility and host cell attachment which is a prerequisite for mediating caspase-1 activation via these three stimuli. Using site directed mutants lacking several T1 effector proteins and flagellin expression, we found that SopE elicits caspase-1 activation even when flagellins are absent. In contrast, disruption of essential genes of the T1 protein injection system (invG, sipB) completely abolished caspase-1 activation. However, a robust level of caspase-1 activation is retained by the T1 system (or unidentified T1 effectors) in the absence of flagellin and SopE. T1-mediated inflammasome activation is in line with recent work by others and suggests that the T1 system itself may represent the basic caspase-1 activating stimulus in RAW264.7 macrophages which is further enhanced independently by SopE and/or flagellin

Stromal IFN-γR-Signaling Modulates Goblet Cell Function During Salmonella Typhimurium Infection

Enteropathogenic bacteria are a frequent cause of diarrhea worldwide. The mucosal defenses against infection are not completely understood. We have used the streptomycin mouse model for Salmonella Typhimurium diarrhea to analyze the role of interferon gamma receptor (IFN-γR)-signaling in mucosal defense. IFN-γ is known to contribute to acute S. Typhimurium diarrhea. We have compared the acute mucosal inflammation in IFN-γR-/- mice and wild type animals. IFN-γR-/- mice harbored increased pathogen loads in the mucosal epithelium and the lamina propria. Surprisingly, the epithelium of the IFN-γR-/- mice did not show the dramatic “loss” of mucus-filled goblet cell vacuoles, a hallmark of the wild type mucosal infection. Using bone marrow chimeric mice we established that IFN-γR-signaling in stromal cells (e.g. goblet cells, enterocytes) controlled mucus excretion/vacuole loss by goblet cells. In contrast, IFN-γR-signaling in bone marrow-derived cells (e.g. macrophages, DCs, PMNs) was required for restricting pathogen growth in the gut tissue. Thus IFN-γR-signaling influences different mucosal responses to infection, including not only pathogen restriction in the lamina propria, but, as shown here, also goblet cell function

Accelerated Type III Secretion System 2-Dependent Enteropathogenesis by a Salmonella enterica Serovar Enteritidis PT4/6 Strain▿

Salmonella enterica subsp. I serovars Typhimurium and Enteritidis are major causes of enteric disease. The pathomechanism of enteric infection by serovar Typhimurium has been studied in detail. Serovar Typhimurium employs two pathways in parallel for triggering disease, i.e., the “classical” pathway, triggered by type III secretion system 1 (TTSS-1), and the “alternative” pathway, mediated by TTSS-2. It had remained unclear whether these two pathways would also explain the enteropathogenesis of strains from other serovars. We chose the isolate P125109 of the epidemic serovar Enteritidis PT4/6, generated isogenic mutants, and studied their virulence. Using in vitro and in vivo infection experiments, a dendritic cell depletion strategy, and MyD88−/− knockout mice, we found that P125109 employs both the “classical” and “alternative” pathways for triggering mucosal inflammation. The “classical” pathway was phenotypically similar in serovar Typhimurium strain SL1344 and in P125109. However, the kinetics of the “alternative” pathway differed significantly. Via TTSS-2, P125109 colonized the gut tissue more efficiently and triggered mucosal inflammation approximately 1 day faster than SL1344 did. In conclusion, our data demonstrate that different Salmonella spp. can differ in their capacity to trigger mucosal inflammation via the “alternative” pathway in vivo

IL-17A/F-Signaling Does Not Contribute to the Initial Phase of Mucosal Inflammation Triggered by S. Typhimurium

Salmonella enterica subspecies 1 serovar Typhimurium (S. Typhimurium) causes diarrhea and acute inflammation of the intestinal mucosa. The pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-17A and IL-17F are strongly induced in the infected mucosa but their contribution in driving the tissue inflammation is not understood. We have used the streptomycin mouse model to analyze the role of IL-17A and IL-17F and their cognate receptor IL-17RA in S. Typhimurium enterocolitis. Neutralization of IL-17A and IL-17F did not affect mucosal inflammation triggered by infection or spread of S. Typhimurium to systemic sites by 48 h p.i. Similarly, Il17ra−/− mice did not display any reduction in infection or inflammation by 12 h p.i. The same results were obtained using S. Typhimurium variants infecting via the TTSS1 type III secretion system, the TTSS1 effector SipA or the TTSS1 effector SopE. Moreover, the expression pattern of 45 genes encoding chemokines/cytokines (including CXCL1, CXCL2, IL-17A, IL-17F, IL-1α, IL-1β, IFNγ, CXCL-10, CXCL-9, IL-6, CCL3, CCL4) and antibacterial molecules was not affected by Il17ra deficiency by 12 h p.i. Thus, in spite of the strong increase in Il17a/Il17f mRNA in the infected mucosa, IL-17RA signaling seems to be dispensable for eliciting the acute disease. Future work will have to address whether this is attributable to redundancy in the cytokine signaling network.ISSN:1932-620

Salmonella Gut Invasion Involves TTSS-2-Dependent Epithelial Traversal, Basolateral Exit, and Uptake by Epithelium-Sampling Lamina Propria Phagocytes

SummarySalmonella Typhimurium causes diarrhea by infecting the epithelium and lamina propria of the intestinal mucosa and by secreting various effector proteins through type III secretion systems (TTSSs). However, the mechanisms by which Salmonella transverses the epithelium and is subsequently released into the lamina propria are poorly understood. Using a murine Salmonella-diarrhea model and in vivo microscopy, we show that epithelial traversal requires TTSS-1-mediated invasion and TTSS-2-dependent trafficking to the basolateral side. After being released into the lamina propria, the bacterium is transiently extracellular before being taken up by phagocytes, including CD11c+CX3CR1high monocytic phagocytes (MPs), which were found to constitutively sample cellular material shed from the basolateral side of the epithelium. Thus, Salmonella infects the cecal mucsa through a step-wise process wherein the bacterium transverses the epithelium through TTSS-2-dependent trafficking and then likely exploits lamina propria MPs, which are sampling the epithelium, to enter and replicate within the host

Indirect Toll-like receptor 5-mediated activation of conventional dendritic cells promotes the mucosal adjuvant activity of flagellin in the respiratory tract

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Mucosal inflammation in <i>S</i>.Typhimurium infected <i>Il17ra ^−/−</i> mice.

<p>Cryosections of <i>Il17ra ^+/−</i>, <i>Il17ra^−/−</i> and C57BL/6 mice infected with <i>S</i>.Tm*, <i>S</i>.Tm^SipA and <i>S</i>.Tm^SopE for 12hpi were stained with HE. Representative animals were chosen from the experiment shown in <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0013804#pone-0013804-g002" target="_blank">Fig. 2</a>. Bar  = 100 µm.</p

IL-1 maturation and LDH release induced by flagellin-deficient <i>S</i>. Typhimurium.

<p><b>A</b>) Western Blot analysis of <i>Salmonella</i> flagellins (FliC and FljB) and the T1 effector SopE in lysates (P) and supernatants (SN) of flagella wildtype strains and Δ<i>fliGHI</i> (M−F−). WT: wildtype, T1⁻: no T3SS-1, SopE/E2: Δ<i>sipA</i> Δ<i>sopB</i>; *:unspecific band as loading control. <b>B</b>) Flagellin-deficient <i>S</i>. Typhimurium induce LDH release from LPS-pretreated RAW264.7 macrophages. Infection was performed with the indicated <i>S</i>. Typhimurium strains (MOI 150) either without (black bars) or with centrifugation (grey bars) of cell plates. <b>C</b>) Release of mature IL-1 after infection of LPS-pretreated RAW264.7 macrophages with flagellin-deficient <i>S</i>. Typhimurium (Δ<i>fliGHI,</i> M−F−) following centrifugation. Experiments were performed in triplicate; mean +/− SD. n.s.: not significant; *: p-value ≤0.05 (Mann-Whitney U test).</p

NADPH oxidase deficient mice develop colitis and bacteremia upon infection with normally avirulent, TTSS-1- and TTSS-2-deficient Salmonella Typhimurium.

Infections, microbe sampling and occasional leakage of commensal microbiota and their products across the intestinal epithelial cell layer represent a permanent challenge to the intestinal immune system. The production of reactive oxygen species by NADPH oxidase is thought to be a key element of defense. Patients suffering from chronic granulomatous disease are deficient in one of the subunits of NADPH oxidase. They display a high incidence of Crohn's disease-like intestinal inflammation and are hyper-susceptible to infection with fungi and bacteria, including a 10-fold increased risk of Salmonellosis. It is not completely understood which steps of the infection process are affected by the NADPH oxidase deficiency. We employed a mouse model for Salmonella diarrhea to study how NADPH oxidase deficiency (Cybb (-/-)) affects microbe handling by the large intestinal mucosa. In this animal model, wild type S. Typhimurium causes pronounced enteropathy in wild type mice. In contrast, an avirulent S. Typhimurium mutant (S.Tm(avir); invGsseD), which lacks virulence factors boosting trans-epithelial penetration and growth in the lamina propria, cannot cause enteropathy in wild type mice. We found that Cybb (-/-) mice are efficiently infected by S.Tm(avir) and develop enteropathy by day 4 post infection. Cell depletion experiments and infections in Cybb (-/-) Myd88 (-/-) mice indicated that the S.Tm(avir)-inflicted disease in Cybb (-/-) mice hinges on CD11c(+)CX3CR1(+) monocytic phagocytes mediating colonization of the cecal lamina propria and on Myd88-dependent proinflammatory immune responses. Interestingly, in mixed bone marrow chimeras a partial reconstitution of Cybb-proficiency in the bone marrow derived compartment was sufficient to ameliorate disease severity. Our data indicate that NADPH oxidase expression is of key importance for restricting the growth of S.Tm(avir) in the mucosal lamina propria. This provides important insights into microbe handling by the large intestinal mucosa and the role of NADPH oxidase in maintaining microbe-host mutualism at this exposed body surface