Dataset Information

STRUCTURAL WEAKENING OF THE COLONIC MUCUS BARRIER IS AN EARLY EVENT IN ULCERATIVE COLITIS PATHOGENESIS

ABSTRACT: The colonic inner mucus layer protects us from pathogen invasion and commensal-induced inflammation. Mucus abnormalities are common in ulcerative colitis (UC), but their cause and importance are unknown. The aim of this study was to determine the role of compositional mucus barrier alterations in UC. In this single-center case-control study, sigmoid colon biopsies were obtained from UC patients with ongoing inflammation (n=36) and in remission (n=28), and from 47 patients without inflammatory bowel disease. Mucus samples were collected from biopsies ex vivo, and their protein composition analyzed by mass spectrometry. Mucus barrier integrity and goblet cell response to microbial challenge were also assessed for a subset of patients. The core colonic mucus proteome was shown to consist of a small set of 29 secreted proteins. Patients with active UC had reduced levels of major structural components, including the mucin MUC2 (p<0.0001), also in mucus from non-inflamed segments, and their goblet cell secretory response to microbial stimulus was abrogated. Functional mucus barrier failure was observed in a subset of UC patients with and without active inflammation, and accompanied by alterations in proteins associated with mucus secretion and luminal organization. This study represents the first characterization and comparison of the mucus proteomes of the inflamed and non-inflamed colon. Core mucus structural components were reduced in active UC, also in mucus from non-inflamed segments. Thus, weakening of the mucus barrier is likely to occur early in UC pathogenesis, and represents a novel target for intervention.

INSTRUMENT(S): LTQ Orbitrap

ORGANISM(S): Homo Sapiens (human)

SUBMITTER: S.S van der Post

LAB HEAD: Gunnar C Hansson

PROVIDER: PXD012632 | Pride | 2021-03-26

REPOSITORIES: Pride

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Structural weakening of the colonic mucus barrier is an early event in ulcerative colitis pathogenesis.

van der Post Sjoerd S Jabbar Karolina S KS Birchenough George G Arike Liisa L Akhtar Noreen N Sjovall Henrik H Johansson Malin E V MEV Hansson Gunnar C GC

Gut 20190326 12

<h4>Objective</h4>The colonic inner mucus layer protects us from pathogens and commensal-induced inflammation, and has been shown to be defective in active UC. The aim of this study was to determine the underlying compositional alterations, their molecular background and potential contribution to UC pathogenesis.<h4>Design</h4>In this single-centre case-control study, sigmoid colon biopsies were obtained from patients with UC with ongoing inflammation (n=36) or in remission (n=28), and from 47 p ...[more]

PMID: 30914450

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Project description:Background; MUC2 mucin produced by intestinal goblet cells is the major component of the intestinal mucus barrier. MUC2 homo-oligomerizes intracellularly into large secreted polymers which give mucus its viscous properties. The inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) ulcerative colitis is characterized by depleted goblet cells and a reduced mucus layer, whereas goblet cells and the mucus layer are increased in the other major inflammatory bowel disease, Crohnâs disease. Methods and Findings; By murine N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea-mutagenesis we identified two distinct non-complementing missense mutations in Muc2 exons encoding N- and C-terminal homo-oligomerization domains causing an ulcerative colitis-like phenotype. Both strains developed mild spontaneous distal intestinal inflammation, chronic diarrhea, rectal bleeding and prolapse, increased susceptibility to acute and chronic colitis induced by a luminal toxin, aberrant Muc2 biosynthesis, smaller goblet cell thecae (less stored mucin) and a diminished mucus barrier. Enhanced local production of IL-1beta, TNF-alpha and IFN-gamma was seen in the distal colon. The number of leukocytes within mesenteric lymph nodes was increased five-fold and leukocytes cultured in vitro produced both Th1 and Th2 cytokines (IFN-gamma, TNF-alpha and IL-13). Intestinal permeability was increased and the luminal bacterial flora were more heavily coated with immunoglobulin as occurs in IBD. This pathology was accompanied by accumulation of the Muc2 precursor and ultrastructural and biochemical evidence of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress in goblet cells, activation of the unfolded protein response, and altered intestinal expression of genes involved in ER stress, inflammation, apoptosis and wound repair. Expression of mutated Muc2 oligomerization domains in vitro demonstrated that aberrant Muc2 oligomerization underlies the ER stress. These models show that mutations in Muc2 oligomerization domains can lead to aberrant assembly of the Muc2 complex leading to ER stress, a depleted mucus barrier and intestinal inflammation. In ulcerative colitis we demonstrate similar accumulation of non-glycosylated MUC2 precursor in goblet cells together with ultrastructural and biochemical evidence of ER stress even in non-inflamed intestinal tissue. Conclusions; The observations that mucin misfolding and ER stress lead directly to intestinal inflammation and that ER stress and goblet cell pathology occur in ulcerative colitis suggest that ER stress-related mucin depletion could be a fundamental component of the pathogenesis of colitis. Experiment Overall Design: 3 individual mice from the Eeyore, Winnie or Wild-type strains were compared as groups. An Affymetrix ID was compared between groups if the ID was Present within two of the three mice within each grouping. IDs were compared by calculating the log2 of Group One average signal divided by Group 2 average signal.

Project description:Background MUC2 mucin produced by intestinal goblet cells is the major component of the intestinal mucus barrier. MUC2 homo-oligomerizes intracellularly into large secreted polymers which give mucus its viscous properties. The inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) ulcerative colitis is characterized by depleted goblet cells and a reduced mucus layer, whereas goblet cells and the mucus layer are increased in the other major inflammatory bowel disease, Crohn’s disease. Methods and Findings By murine N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea-mutagenesis we identified two distinct non-complementing missense mutations in Muc2 exons encoding N- and C-terminal homo-oligomerization domains causing an ulcerative colitis-like phenotype. Both strains developed mild spontaneous distal intestinal inflammation, chronic diarrhea, rectal bleeding and prolapse, increased susceptibility to acute and chronic colitis induced by a luminal toxin, aberrant Muc2 biosynthesis, smaller goblet cell thecae (less stored mucin) and a diminished mucus barrier. Enhanced local production of IL-1beta, TNF-alpha and IFN-gamma was seen in the distal colon. The number of leukocytes within mesenteric lymph nodes was increased five-fold and leukocytes cultured in vitro produced both Th1 and Th2 cytokines (IFN-gamma, TNF-alpha and IL-13). Intestinal permeability was increased and the luminal bacterial flora were more heavily coated with immunoglobulin as occurs in IBD. This pathology was accompanied by accumulation of the Muc2 precursor and ultrastructural and biochemical evidence of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress in goblet cells, activation of the unfolded protein response, and altered intestinal expression of genes involved in ER stress, inflammation, apoptosis and wound repair. Expression of mutated Muc2 oligomerization domains in vitro demonstrated that aberrant Muc2 oligomerization underlies the ER stress. These models show that mutations in Muc2 oligomerization domains can lead to aberrant assembly of the Muc2 complex leading to ER stress, a depleted mucus barrier and intestinal inflammation. In ulcerative colitis we demonstrate similar accumulation of non-glycosylated MUC2 precursor in goblet cells together with ultrastructural and biochemical evidence of ER stress even in non-inflamed intestinal tissue. Conclusions The observations that mucin misfolding and ER stress lead directly to intestinal inflammation and that ER stress and goblet cell pathology occur in ulcerative colitis suggest that ER stress-related mucin depletion could be a fundamental component of the pathogenesis of colitis. Keywords: Single gene, multiple mutant comparison

Project description:Background and aims: Mucosal abnormalities are potentially important in the primary pathogenesis of ulcerative colitis (UC). We investigated the mucosal transcriptomic expression profiles of biopsies from patients with UC and healthy controls (HC), taken from macroscopically non-inflamed tissue from the terminal ileum and three colonic locations with the objective of identifying abnormal molecules that might be involved in disease development. Methods: Whole-genome transcriptional analysis was performed on intestinal biopsies taken from 24 UC, 26 HC and 14 patients with CrohnM-bM-^@M-^Ys disease. Differential gene expression analysis was performed at each tissue location separately and results were then meta-analysed using FisherM-bM-^@M-^Ys method. Significantly differentially expressed genes were validated using qPCR. Gene location within the colon was determined using immunohistochemistry, subcellular fractionation, electron and confocal microscopy. DNA methylation was quantified by pyrosequencing. Results: Seven probes were abnormally expressed throughout the colon in UC patients with Family with sequence similarity member 5 C (FAM5C) being the most significantly underexpressed. Attenuated expression of FAM5C in UC was independent of inflammation, unrelated to phenotype or treatment, and remained low at rebiopsy approximately 23 months later. FAM5C is localised to the brush border of the colonic epithelium and expression is influenced by DNA methylation within its promoter. Conclusion: Genome-wide expression analysis of non-inflamed mucosal biopsies from UC patients identified FAM5C as significantly under-expressed throughout the colon in a major sub-set of patients with UC. Low levels of this gene could predispose to or contribute to the maintenance of the characteristic mucosal inflammation seen in this condition. Total RNA was extracted from the intestinal biopsies taken from macroscopically normal mucosa in the rectum, descending colon, ascending colon and terminal ileum in clinically quiescent Ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease patients and compared to healthy controls. Normalized data for 26,261 probes out of 47,323 only. Criteria for inclusion not specified. The non-normalized matrix contains the complete non-normalized data for all probes.

Project description:In this study we compared the intestinal mucus phenotype of Clca1-deficient (Clca1-/-) mice and wild-type (WT) controls. The human CLCA1 (chloride channel regulator, calcium-activated) and its murine ortholog mouse CLCA1 (formerly known as CLCA3) are secreted proteins which have been linked to human respiratory diseases such as asthma, cystic fibrosis (CF) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) as well as to the corresponding murine models of these diseases. Common, disease severity-related features are goblet cell hyperplasia, mucus overproduction and disturbed clearance. Neutralization of mouse CLCA1 ameliorates the symptoms in the asthmatic mouse model and restoration of the decreased mouse CLCA1 protein level in a CF mouse model ameliorates the intestinal CF lesions, pointing toward these proteins being potential therapeutic targets. The expression CLCA1 can be induced in airways but this protein is normally expressed and secreted by goblet cells of the intestinal tract in both human and mouse together with the intestinal MUC2 mucin. This makes CLCA1 a major constituent of the extracellular intestinal mucus in which the MUC2 mucin is the main structural component. To study the possible further effects of murine CLCA1 deficiency on Muc2 and on other important components of the mucus, such as Agr2, Fcgbp, Klk and Zg16, a shotgun label-free proteomics study was performed which compared their relative abundance in the mucus layer, showing a tight and significant correlation between WT and Clca1-/- mucus proteins (Pearson r = 0.931, r2 = 0.868, p < 0.0001, based on 809 valid pairs). No significant differences in known mucus protein expression were observed. However, the abundance of CLCA1 in the mucus together with the domain structure suggests a structural role and other methods to reveal the function of these domains might shed light on the overall function in mucus. Because of its abundance in the mucus and the well preserved structure thought a long evolution together with mucus we still speculate that CLCA1 was developed to protect the expressing organism, although the threat is elusive.

Dataset Information

STRUCTURAL WEAKENING OF THE COLONIC MUCUS BARRIER IS AN EARLY EVENT IN ULCERATIVE COLITIS PATHOGENESIS

Publications

Structural weakening of the colonic mucus barrier is an early event in ulcerative colitis pathogenesis.

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