Autophagy is emerging as a crucial defense mechanism against bacteria, but the host intracellular sensors responsible for inducing autophagy in response to bacterial infection remain unknown. Here we demonstrated that the intracellular sensors Nod1 and Nod2 are critical for the autophagic response to invasive bacteria. By a mechanism independent of the adaptor RIP2 and transcription factor NF-kappaB, Nod1 and Nod2 recruited the autophagy protein ATG16L1 to the plasma membrane at the bacterial entry site. In cells homozygous for the Crohn's disease-associated NOD2 frameshift mutation, mutant Nod2 failed to recruit ATG16L1 to the plasma membrane and wrapping of invading bacteria by autophagosomes was impaired. Our results link bacterial sensing by Nod proteins to the induction of autophagy and provide a functional link between Nod2 and ATG16L1, which are encoded by two of the most important genes associated with Crohn's disease.

The virulence mechanisms that allow pathogens to colonize the intestine remain unclear. Here we show that germ-free animals are unable to eradicate Citrobacter rodentium, a model for human infections with attaching/effacing bacteria. Early in infection, virulence genes were expressed and required for pathogen growth in conventionally raised but not germ-free mice. Virulence gene expression was downregulated during the late phase of infection, which led to relocation of the pathogen to the intestinal lumen where it was out-competed by commensals. The ability of commensals to out-compete C. rodentium was determined, at least in part, by the capacity of the pathogen and commensals to grow on structurally similar carbohydrates. Thus, pathogen colonization is controlled by bacterial virulence and through competition with metabolically related commensals.

The NOD-like receptors (NLRs) are a specialized group of intracellular receptors that represent a key component of the host innate immune system. Since the discovery of the first NLR almost 10 years ago, the study of this special class of microbial sensors has burgeoned; consequently, a better understanding of the mechanism by which these receptors recognize microbes and other danger signals and of how they activate inflammatory signaling pathways has emerged. Moreover, in addition to their primary role in host defense against invading pathogens, their ability to regulate nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-kappaB) signaling, interleukin-1-beta (IL-1beta) production, and cell death indicates that they are crucial to the pathogenesis of a variety of inflammatory human diseases.

Cryopyrin is essential for caspase-1 activation triggered by Toll-like receptor (TLR) ligands in the presence of adenosine triphosphate (ATP). However, the events linking bacterial products and ATP to cryopyrin remain unclear. Here we demonstrate that cryopyrin-mediated caspase-1 activation proceeds independently of TLR signaling, thus dissociating caspase-1 activation and IL-1beta secretion. Instead, caspase-1 activation required pannexin-1, a hemichannel protein that interacts with the P2X(7) receptor. Direct cytosolic delivery of multiple bacterial products including lipopolysaccharide, but not flagellin, induced caspase-1 activation via cryopyrin in the absence of pannexin-1 activity or ATP stimulation. However, unlike Ipaf-dependent caspase-1 activation, stimulation of the pannexin-1-cryopyrin pathway by several intracellular bacteria was independent of a functional bacterial type III secretion system. These results provide evidence for cytosolic delivery and sensing of bacterial molecules as a unifying model for caspase-1 activation and position pannexin-1 as a mechanistic link between bacterial stimuli and the cryopyrin inflammasome.

RICK is a kinase that has been implicated in Nod1 and Nod2 signaling. In addition, RICK has been proposed to mediate TLR signaling in that its absence confers reduced responses to certain bacterial products such as LPS. We show here that macrophages and mice lacking RICK are defective in their responses to Nod1 and Nod2 agonists but exhibit unimpaired responses to synthetic and highly purified TLR agonists. Furthermore, production of chemokines induced by the bacterial dipeptide γ-d-glutamyl-meso-diaminopimelic acid was intact in MyD88 deficient mice but abolished in RICK-null mice. Stimulation of macrophages with muramyl dipeptide, the Nod2 activator, enhanced immune responses induced by LPS, IFN-γ, and heat-killed Listeria in wild-type but not in RICK- or Nod2-deficient macrophages. Finally, we show that the absence of RICK or double deficiency of Nod1 and Nod2 was associated with reduced cytokine production in Listeria-infected macrophages. These results demonstrate that RICK functions in innate immunity by mediating Nod1 and Nod2 signaling but not TLR-mediated immune responses.

Intestinal phagocytes transport oral antigens and promote immune tolerance, but their role in innate immune responses remains unclear. Here we report that intestinal phagocytes are anergic to Toll-like receptor ligands or commensals, but constitutively express pro-interleukin-1β (proIL-1β). Upon infection with pathogenic Salmonella or Pseudomonas, intestinal phagocytes produce mature IL-1β through the NLRC4 inflammasome, but not tumor necrosis factor or IL-6. Mice deficient in NLRC4 or IL-1 receptor on a Balb/c background were highly susceptible to orogastric but not intraperitoneal infection with Salmonella. Increased lethality was preceded by impaired expression of endothelial adhesion molecules, lower neutrophil recruitment, and poor intestinal pathogen clearance. Thus, NLRC4-dependent IL-1β production by intestinal phagocytes represents a specific response discriminating pathogenic from commensal bacteria and contributes to host defense in the intestine.

It is unclear whether neurogenesis occurs in the adult mammalian enteric nervous system (ENS). Neural crestderived cells capable of forming multilineage colonies in culture, and neurons and glia upon transplantation into chick embryos, persist throughout adult life in the mammalian ENS. In this study we sought to determine the physiological function of these cells. We discovered that these cells could be identified based on CD49b expression and that they had characteristics of enteric glia, including p75, GFAP, S100B, and SOX10 expression. To test whether new neurons or glia arise in the adult gut under physiological conditions, we marked dividing progenitors with a thymidine analog in rodents under steady-state conditions, or during aging, pregnancy, dietary changes, hyperglycemia, or exercise. We also tested gut injuries including inflammation, irradiation, benzalkonium chloride treatment, partial gut stenosis, and glial ablation. We readily observed neurogenesis in a neurogenic region of the central nervous system, but not reproducibly in the adult ENS. Lineage tracing of glial cells with GFAP-Cre and GFAP-CreERT2 also detected little or no adult ENS neurogenesis. Neurogenesis in the adult gut is therefore very limited under the conditions we studied. In contrast, ENS gliogenesis was readily observed under steady-state conditions and after injury. Adult enteric glia thus have the potential to form neurons and glia in culture but are fated to form mainly glia under physiological conditions and after the injuries we studied.

SUMMARY The microbiota stimulate inflammation, but the signaling pathways and the members of the microbiota involved remain poorly understood. We found that the microbiota induce interleukin-1β (IL-1β) release upon intestinal injury and this is mediated via the NLRP3 inflammasome. Enterobacteriaceae and in particular the pathobiont Proteus mirabilis, induced robust IL-1β release that was comparable to that induced by the pathogen Salmonella. Upon epithelial injury, production of IL-1β in the intestine was largely mediated by intestinal Ly6Chigh monocytes, required chemokine receptor CCR2 and was abolished by deletion of IL-1β in CCR2+ blood monocytes. Furthermore, colonization with P. mirabilis promoted intestinal inflammation upon intestinal injury via the production of hemolysin which required NLRP3 and IL-1 receptor signaling in vivo. Thus, upon intestinal injury, selective members of the microbiota stimulate newly recruited monocytes to induce NLRP3-dependent IL-1β release which promotes inflammation in the intestine.