IFN-λ is protective against lethal oral Toxoplasma gondii infection

Interferons are essential for innate and adaptive immune responses against a wide variety of pathogens. Interferon lambda (IFN-λ) protects mucosal barriers during pathogen exposure. The intestinal epithelium is the first contact site for ( ) with its hosts and the first defense line that limits para...

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Published inbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology
Main Authors Murillo-León, Mateo, Bastidas-Quintero, Aura M, Endres, Niklas S, Schnepf, Daniel, Delgado-Betancourt, Estefanía, Ohnemus, Annette, Taylor, Gregory A, Schwemmle, Martin, Staeheli, Peter, Steinfeldt, Tobias
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States 24.02.2023
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Summary:Interferons are essential for innate and adaptive immune responses against a wide variety of pathogens. Interferon lambda (IFN-λ) protects mucosal barriers during pathogen exposure. The intestinal epithelium is the first contact site for ( ) with its hosts and the first defense line that limits parasite infection. Knowledge of very early infection events in the gut tissue is limited and a possible contribution of IFN-λ has not been investigated so far. Here, we demonstrate with systemic interferon lambda receptor (IFNLR1) and conditional (Villin-Cre) knockout mouse models and bone marrow chimeras of oral infection and mouse intestinal organoids a significant impact of IFN-λ signaling in intestinal epithelial cells and neutrophils to control in the gastrointestinal tract. Our results expand the repertoire of interferons that contribute to the control of and may lead to novel therapeutic approaches against this world-wide zoonotic pathogen.