Inflammasome activation contributes to interleukin-23 production in response to Clostridium difficile.

ABSTRACT: Clostridium difficile is the most common hospital-acquired pathogen, causing antibiotic-associated diarrhea in over 250,000 patients annually in the United States. Disease is primarily mediated by toxins A and B, which induce potent proinflammatory signaling in host cells and can activate an ASC-containing inflammasome. Recent findings suggest that the intensity of the host response to infection correlates with disease severity. Our lab has identified the proinflammatory cytokine interleukin-23 (IL-23) as a pathogenic mediator during C. difficile infection (CDI). The mechanisms by which C. difficile induces IL-23, however, are not well understood, and the role of toxins A and B in this process is unclear. Here, we show that toxins A and B alone are not sufficient for IL-23 production but s

SUBMITTER: Cowardin CA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4324312 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature