Bacillus anthracis lethal toxin(LT)is a determinant of lethal anthrax.Its function in myeloid cells is required for bacterial dissemination,and LT itself can directly trigger dysfunction of the cardiovascular system.T...Bacillus anthracis lethal toxin(LT)is a determinant of lethal anthrax.Its function in myeloid cells is required for bacterial dissemination,and LT itself can directly trigger dysfunction of the cardiovascular system.The interplay between LT and the host responses is important in the pathogenesis,but our knowledge on this interplay remains limited.Tumor necrosis factor-a(TNF-a)is a pleiotropic pro-inflammatory cytokine induced by bacterial infections.Since LT accumulates and cytokines,predominantly TNF,amass during B.anthracis infection,co-treatment of TNF+LT in mice was used to mimic in vivo conditions for LT to function in inflamed hosts.Bone marrow transplantation and genetically engineered mice showed unexpectedly that the death of intestinal epithelial cells(IECs)rather than that of hematopoietic cells led to LT+TNF-induced lethality.Inhibition of p38a mitogen-activated protein kinase(MAPK)signaling by LT in IECs promoted TNF-induced apoptosis and necroptosis of IECs,leading to intestinal damage and mouse death.Consistently,p38a inhibition by LT enhanced TNF-mediated cell death in human colon epithelial HT-29 cells.As intestinal damage is one of the leading causes of lethality in anthrax patients,the IEC damage caused by LT+TNF would most likely be a mechanism underneath this clinical manifestation and could be a target for interventions.展开更多
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant 82388201 to J.H.,grant 31701205 to P.Z.,grant 31801158 to Y.z.)the National Key R&D Program of China (2020YFA0803500 to J.H.)+2 种基金the CAMS Innovation Fund for Medical Sciences (CIFMS) (2019-I2M-5-062 to J.H.)the Fujian Province Central to Local Science and Technology Development Special Program (2022L3079 to J.H.)the Fu-Xia-Quan Zi-Chuang District Cooperation Program (3502ZCQXT2022003 to J.H.).
文摘Bacillus anthracis lethal toxin(LT)is a determinant of lethal anthrax.Its function in myeloid cells is required for bacterial dissemination,and LT itself can directly trigger dysfunction of the cardiovascular system.The interplay between LT and the host responses is important in the pathogenesis,but our knowledge on this interplay remains limited.Tumor necrosis factor-a(TNF-a)is a pleiotropic pro-inflammatory cytokine induced by bacterial infections.Since LT accumulates and cytokines,predominantly TNF,amass during B.anthracis infection,co-treatment of TNF+LT in mice was used to mimic in vivo conditions for LT to function in inflamed hosts.Bone marrow transplantation and genetically engineered mice showed unexpectedly that the death of intestinal epithelial cells(IECs)rather than that of hematopoietic cells led to LT+TNF-induced lethality.Inhibition of p38a mitogen-activated protein kinase(MAPK)signaling by LT in IECs promoted TNF-induced apoptosis and necroptosis of IECs,leading to intestinal damage and mouse death.Consistently,p38a inhibition by LT enhanced TNF-mediated cell death in human colon epithelial HT-29 cells.As intestinal damage is one of the leading causes of lethality in anthrax patients,the IEC damage caused by LT+TNF would most likely be a mechanism underneath this clinical manifestation and could be a target for interventions.
