An ILC2-chitinase circuit restores lung homeostasis after epithelial injury.

ABSTRACT: Environmental exposures increase the risk for severe lung disease, but specific drivers of persistent epithelial injury and immune dysfunction remain unclear. Here, we identify a feedback circuit triggered by chitin, a common component of airborne particles, that affects lung health after epithelial injury. In mice, epithelial damage disrupts lung chitinase activity, leading to environmental chitin accumulation, impaired epithelial renewal, and group 2 innate lymphoid cell (ILC2) activation. ILC2s, in turn, restore homeostasis by inducing acidic mammalian chitinase (AMCase) in regenerating epithelial cells and promoting chitin degradation, epithelial differentiation, and inflammatory resolution. Mice lacking AMCase or ILC2s fail to clear chitin and exhibit increased mortality and impaired

SUBMITTER: Jung H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11854321 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature