Tuft cells, taste-chemosensory cells, orchestrate parasite type 2 immunity in the gut

• Published in: Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Vol. 351; no. 6279; pp. 1329 - 1333
• Main Authors: Howitt, Michael R., Lavoie, Sydney, Michaud, Monia, Blum, Arthur M., Tran, Sara V., Weinstock, Joel V., Gallini, Carey Ann, Redding, Kevin, Margolskee, Robert F., Osborne, Lisa C., Artis, David, Garrett, Wendy S.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Association for the Advancement of Science 18.03.2016; The American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Subjects: Animals; Cells; Chemoreceptor Cells - immunology; Eosinophils - immunology; Goblet Cells - immunology; Helminthiasis - immunology; Helminthiasis - parasitology; Helminths - immunology; Immune system; Immunity, Mucosal; Interleukin-13 - immunology; Interleukin-17 - immunology; Intestinal Diseases, Parasitic - immunology; Intestinal Diseases, Parasitic - parasitology; Intestinal Mucosa - immunology; Intestinal Mucosa - parasitology; Land Settlement; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Mice, Mutant Strains; Microbiota - immunology; Parasites; Protein-Serine-Threonine Kinases - immunology; Protozoan Infections - immunology; Protozoan Infections - parasitology; Signal Transduction; Stomach; Taste; Transducin - genetics; Transducin - immunology; Tritrichomonas - immunology; TRPM Cation Channels - immunology
• ISSN: 0036-8075; 1095-9203
• DOI: 10.1126/science.aaf1648

The intestinal epithelium forms an essential barrier between a host and its microbiota. Protozoa and helminths are members of the gut microbiota of mammals, including humans, yet the many ways that gut epithelial cells orchestrate responses to these eukaryotes remain unclear. Here we show that tuft cells, which are taste-chemosensory epithelial cells, accumulate during parasite colonization and infection. Disruption of chemosensory signaling through the loss of TRMP5 abrogates the expansion of tuft cells, goblet cells, eosinophils, and type 2 innate lymphoid cells during parasite colonization. Tuft cells are the primary source of the parasite-induced cytokine interleukin-25, which indirectly induces tuft cell expansion by promoting interleukin-13 production by innate lymphoid cells. Our results identify intestinal tuft cells as critical sentinels in the gut epithelium that promote type 2 immunity in response to intestinal parasites.