Biofilms are complex communities of bacteria encased in a matrix composed primarily of polysaccharides, extracellular DNA, and protein. Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) can form biofilm infections, which are often debilitating due to their chronicity and recalcitrance to antibiotic therapy. Currently, the immune mechanisms elicited during biofilm growth and their impact on bacterial clearance remains to be defined. We utilized a mouse model of catheter-associated biofilm infection to assess the functional importance of Toll-like receptors 2 and 9 in the host immune response during biofilm formation, since ligands for both receptors are present within the biofilm. Interestingly, neither receptor impacted bacterial density or inflammatory mediator secretion during biofilm growth in vivo, suggesting that S. aureus biofilms circumvent these traditional bacterial recognition pathways. Several potential mechanisms were identified to account for biofilm evasion of innate immunity, including significant reductions in IL-1β, TNF-α, CXCL2, and CCL2 expression during biofilm infection compared to the wound healing response elicited by sterile catheters, limited macrophage invasion into biofilms in vivo, and a skewing of the immune response away from a microbicidal phenotype as evidenced by decreases in iNOS expression concomitant with robust arginase-1 induction. Co-culture studies of macrophages with S. aureus biofilms in vitro revealed that macrophages successful at biofilm invasion displayed limited phagocytosis and gene expression patterns reminiscent of alternatively activated M2 macrophages. Collectively, these findings demonstrate that S. aureus biofilms are capable of attenuating traditional host proinflammatory responses, which may explain why biofilm infections persist in an immunocompetent host.

No abstract

Polymorphisms in NOD2, encoding an intracellular pattern recognition receptor, contribute the largest fraction of genetic risk for Crohn’s disease among the >40 risk loci identified so far. Autophagy plays a prominent role in the innate immune response towards intracellular bacteria. The discovery of the autophagy genes ATG16L1 and IRGM as risk factors for Crohn’s disease turned autophagy into the spotlight in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Remarkably, NOD2 has recently been identified as a potent autophagy inducer. A physical interaction of NOD2 and ATG16L1 appears to be required for autophagic clearance of intracellular pathogens. Moreover, Crohn’s disease-associated NOD2 and ATG16L1 variants exhibit a defect in the induction of an autophagic response and hence predict autophagy as a key converging mechanism that leads to Crohn’s disease. Another pathway that is closely intertwined with autophagy and mutually cross-regulated is the unfolded protein response (UPR), which is induced by endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress. Genes involved in the UPR (XBP1, ORMDL3) have also been genetically associated with Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. Moreover, the intestinal epithelium at the interface between host and microbe appears particularly affected by IBD-associated hypomorphic function of autophagy and the UPR. The functional convergence of main genetic risk factors for IBD on these innate immune pathways has hence important implications for the host’s interaction with the microbiota. Moreover, the genetic convergence on these molecular mechanisms may open novel therapeutic options for IBD that deserve further exploration.

Inflammation attenuates gap junction (GJ) communication in cultured astrocytes. Here we utilized a well-characterized model of experimental brain abscess as a tool to query effects of the CNS inflammatory milieu on astrocyte GJ communication and electrophysiological properties. Whole-cell patch-clamp recordings were performed on GFP-positive astrocytes in acute brain slices from GFAP-GFP mice at 3 or 7 days following S. aureus infection in the striatum. Astrocyte GJ communication was significantly attenuated in regions immediately surrounding the abscess margins and progressively increased to levels typical of uninfected brain with increasing distance from the abscess proper. Conversely, astrocytes bordering the abscess demonstrated hemichannel activity as evident by enhanced EtBr uptake that could be blocked by several pharmacological inhibitors including the connexin 43 (Cx43) mimetic peptide Gap26, carbenoxolone, the pannexin1 (Panx1) mimetic peptide 10Panx1, and probenecid. However, hemichannel opening was transient with astrocytic EtBr uptake observed near the abscess at day 3 but not day 7 post-infection. The region-dependent pattern of hemichannel activity at day 3 directly correlated with increases in Cx43, Cx30, Panx1, and glutamate transporter expression (GLT and GLAST) along the abscess margins. Changes in astrocyte resting membrane potential and input conductance correlated with the observed changes in GJ communication and hemichannel activity. Collectively, these findings indicate that astrocyte coupling and electrical properties are most dramatically affected near the primary inflammatory site and reveal an opposing relationship between the open states of GJ channels versus hemichannels during acute infection. This relationship may extend to other CNS diseases typified with an inflammatory component.

IFNAR1 in IECs, and Paneth cells in particular, contributes to the regulation of the host-microbiota relationship, with consequences for intestinal regeneration and colitis-associated tumour formation.