Role of damage to intestinal barrier in development of psoriasis

Disorders of interstitial barrier permeability as one of the promising mechanisms of psoriasis formation and development is a trend of the last decades. In the analysis of modern works devoted to the evaluation of the role of intestinal barrier damage in the development of psoriasis, several ways of assessing intestinal permeability have been noted (including measurement of transepithelial electrical responses using a Ussing chamber, measurement of excretion of orally injected molecules, determination of dynamics and kinetics of LPS intestinal bacteria, immunohistochemical confocal analysis of uniform Z-sections perpendicular to the epithelial cell surface, etc.). However, most authors emphasize the diagnostic significance and availability of biomarker detection. Among the described biomarkers, claudin-3, fecal zonulin, α1-antitrypsin, calprotectin and intestinal fatty acid binding protein (I-FABP) are the most valuable. Through these methods of assessing intestinal permeability and the results of their studies, a number of authors practically prove the correlation between the violation of the intestinal microbiota, intestinal barrier permeability and the development of psoriasis, as well as its severity. This aspect is promising to the therapy of patients with psoriasis, which includes correction of intestinal microbiota and intestinal wall permeability.

The Progress of Intestinal Epithelial Models from Cell Lines to Gut-On-Chip

Over the past years, several preclinical in vitro and ex vivo models have been developed that helped to understand some of the critical aspects of intestinal functions in health and disease such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). However, the translation to the human in vivo situation remains problematic. The main reason for this is that these approaches fail to fully reflect the multifactorial and complex in vivo environment (e.g., including microbiota, nutrition, and immune response) in the gut system. Although conventional models such as cell lines, Ussing chamber, and the everted sac are still used, increasingly more sophisticated intestinal models have been developed over the past years including organoids, InTESTine™ and microfluidic gut-on-chip. In this review, we gathered the most recent insights on the setup, advantages, limitations, and future perspectives of most frequently used in vitro and ex vivo models to study intestinal physiology and functions in health and disease.

Measurements of spontaneous CFTR-mediated ion transport without acute channel activation in airway epithelial cultures after modulator exposure

Quantitation of CFTR function in vitro is commonly performed by acutely stimulating then inhibiting ion transport through CFTR and measuring the resulting changes in transepithelial voltage (Vte) and current (ISC). While this technique is suitable for measuring the maximum functional capacity of CFTR, it may not provide an accurate estimate of in vivo CFTR activity. To test if CFTR-mediated ion transport could be measured in the absence of acute CFTR stimulation, primary airway epithelia were analyzed in an Ussing chamber with treatment of amiloride followed by CFTR(inh)-172 without acute activation of CFTR. Non-CF epithelia demonstrated a decrease in Vte and ISC following exposure to CFTR(inh)-172 and in the absence of forskolin/IBMX (F/I); this decrease is interpreted as a measure of spontaneous CFTR activity present in these epithelia. In F508del/F508del CFTR epithelia, F/I-induced changes in Vte and ISC were ~ fourfold increased after treatment with VX-809/VX-770, while the magnitude of spontaneous CFTR activities were only ~ 1.6-fold increased after VX-809/VX-770 treatment. Method-dependent discrepancies in the responses of other CF epithelia to modulator treatments were observed. These results serve as a proof of concept for the analysis of CFTR modulator responses in vitro in the absence of acute CFTR activation. Future studies will determine the usefulness of this approach in the development of novel CFTR modulator therapies.

Changes in porcine nutrient transport physiology in response to Ascaris suum infection

Background The roundworm Ascaris suum is one of the parasites with the greatest economic impact on pig farming. In this context, lower weight gain is hypothesized to be due to decreased nutrient absorption. This study aims at characterizing the effects of A. suum infection on intestinal nutrient transport processes and potential molecular mechanisms. Methods Three groups of six piglets each were infected orally (10,000 embryonated A. suum eggs) in a single dose (“single infection”). Another three groups were infected orally (1000 embryonated eggs) for 10 consecutive days (“trickle infection”). Animals were necropsied 21, 35 and 49 days post-infection (dpi). Three groups served as respective controls. The Ussing chamber technique was applied for the functional characterization of small intestinal tissues [short-circuit currents (Isc) as induced by glucose, alanine and peptides; 3H-glucose net flux rates; tissue conductance (Gt)]. Transcription and expression levels of relevant cytokines and nutrient transporters were evaluated (qPCR/western blot). Results Peptide- and alanine-induced changes in Isc were significantly decreased in the jejunum and ileum of the trickle-infected group at 49 dpi and in the ileum of the single-infected group at 49 dpi. No significant differences regarding glucose transport were observed between the Ascaris-infected groups and the control group in Ussing chamber experiments. Transcription levels of the glucose and peptide transporters as well as of selected transcription factors (transcription of signal transducer and activator of transcription 6 [STAT6] and hypoxia-inducible factor 1-alpha [Hif-1α]) were significantly increased in response to both infection types after some periods. The transcription of interleukins 4 and 13 varied between decrease and increase regarding the respective time points, as did the protein expression of glucose transporters. The expression of the peptide transporter PepT1 was significantly decreased in the ileal single-infected group at 35 dpi. Hif-1α was significantly increased in the ileal tissue from the single-infected group at 21 dpi and in the trickle-infected group at 35 dpi. The expression levels of Na+/K+-ATPase and ASCT1 remained unaffected. Conclusions In contrast to the current hypothesis, these results indicate that the nutrient deprivation induced by A. suum cannot be explained by transcriptional or expression changes alone and requires further studies. Graphical abstract

PSX-A-11 Late-Breaking: Effects of phytogenic supplementation on growth performance and intestinal barrier function in nursery pigs challenged with E. coli

The objective of this study was to investigate the health-promoting effects of red osier dogwood (ROD) extract as an alternative to antibiotics in weaned piglets challenged with enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC). Twenty-eight weaned piglets (9.15±0.95 kg BW) confirmed to genetically susceptible to ETEC were individually assigned to one of the four dietary treatments in a completely randomized design. Experimental diets were, negative control (NC), corn-wheat soybean meal diet with no additives; positive control (PC), NC plus antibiotics; ROD1, NC plus 0.1% ROD extract; ROD2, NC plus 0.2% ROD extract. Piglets were orally challenged on d 7 with ETEC F4. Feed disappearance, body weight, fecal score, and rectal temperature were recorded. On d 14, piglets were euthanized to collect intestinal tissue samples for histomorphology and Ussing chamber analysis. Data were analyzed using the MIXED procedure of SAS using individual piglet as the experimental unit. There were no differences (P > 0.10) in histomorphology and intestinal permeability. Piglets fed the NC diet tended (P < 0.10) to have higher average daily gain, post-inoculation than those fed ROD1 or ROD2. Fecal score of piglets fed the PC diet tended to (P < 0.10) or was significantly lower (P < 0.05) than for piglets fed ROD1 or ROD2 on 0 and 2 days post-inoculation (dpi), respectively. On 0 dpi, piglets fed the ROD1 diet had significantly higher (P < 0.05) body temperature than those fed PC or ROD2. In conclusion, ROD extract supplementation might have some health-promoting effects on ETEC challenged piglets but could not improve gut health to the same extent as antibiotics.

516 Late-Breaking: Iturin a Protects the Intestinal Mucosal Integrity Against E. coli Containing the Gene Coding for Heat-stable Enterotoxin B

Enterotoxigenic E. coli causes severe infectious diarrhea with high morbidity and mortality in weanling pigs mainly through the production of heat-stable enterotoxins. Iturin A, originally isolated from the insect Hyalophora cecropia, exerts strong antibiotic activity against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. Thus, our study investigated whether iturin A could protect the intestinal epithelium from the insults of E. coli Rosetta containing the gene coding for heat-stable enterotoxin b (STb-Rosetta). Twenty-eight piglets were divided into four groups and were orally administered PBS (control), 0.16 g/kg BW iturin A, 2 × 109 CFU STb-Rosetta, and 0.16 g/kg BW iturin A + 2 × 109 CFU STb-Rosetta respectively for 8 days. The intestinal epithelial morphology and barrier function were assessed by H&E staining and Ussing chamber, and the growth advantage in enteroids derived from jejunal crypts of piglets in each group was used to evaluate the intestinal stem cell (ISC) activity. The results showed that iturin A increased the average daily gain (ADG) and average daily feed intake (ADFI) of piglets exposed to STb-Rosetta (P < 0.05). Meanwhile, STb-Rosetta-induced decrease in jejunum weight and damage to jejunal morphology and barrier function were significantly improved after iturin A supplementation (P < 0.05). Furthermore, the jejunal crypt cells from piglets in the iturin A + STb-Rosetta group had greater growth advantages of ISCs compared with the STb-Rosetta group, including enteroid forming efficiency, surface area, budding efficiency, and branching coefficient (P < 0.05). Our results indicate that iturin A protects against STb-Rosetta-induced intestinal mucosal injury, which provides an intervention strategy that regulates the function of ISCs in the high turnover-rate crypt-villous axis under ETEC infection. This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31872389, 32072777) and Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation of Guangdong Province (2019B1515210021).

The bile acid-sensitive ion channel (BASIC) mediates bile acid-dependent currents in bile duct epithelial cells

The bile acid-sensitive ion channel (BASIC) is a member of the Deg/ENaC family of ion channels that is activated by bile acids. Despite the identification of cholangiocytes in the liver and unipolar brush cells in the cerebellum as sites of expression, the physiological function of BASIC in these cell types is not yet understood. Here we used a cholangiocyte cell line, normal rat cholangiocytes (NRCs), which expresses BASIC to study the role of the channel in epithelial transport using Ussing chamber experiments. Apical application of bile acids induced robust and transient increases in transepithelial currents that were carried by Na+ and partly blocked by the BASIC inhibitor diminazene. Genetic ablation of the BASIC gene in NRC using a CRISPR-cas9 approach resulted in a decrease of the bile acid-mediated response that matched the diminazene-sensitive current in NRC WT cells, suggesting that cholangiocytes respond to bile acids with a BASIC-mediated Na+ influx. Taken together, we have identified BASIC as a component of the cholangiocyte transport machinery, which might mediate a bile acid-dependent modification of the bile and thus control bile flux and composition.

Impact of Campylobacter spp. on the Integrity of the Porcine Gut

Campylobacter (C.) is the most common food-borne zoonosis in humans, which mainly manifests with watery to bloody diarrhoea. While C. jejuni is responsible for most cases of infection, C. coli is less frequently encountered. The object of the study was to prove the clinical impact of mono- and co-colonisation of C. coli and C. jejuni on weaned piglets in an infection model and to investigate the impact on transepithelial transport processes in the jejunum and caecum. At an age of eight weeks, eight pigs were infected with C. coli (ST-5777), 10 pigs with C. jejuni (ST‑122), eight pigs with both strains, and 11 piglets served as control. During the four-week observation period, no clinical signs were observed. During dissection, both strains could be isolated from the jejunum and the caecum, but no alteration of the tissue could be determined histopathologically. Mono-infection with C. jejuni showed an impact on transepithelial ion transport processes of the caecum. An increase in the short circuit current (Isc) was observed in the Ussing chamber resulting from carbachol- and forskolin-mediated Cl− secretion. Therefore, we speculate that caecal colonisation of C. jejuni might affect the transport mechanisms of the intestinal mucosa without detectable inflammatory reaction.

Abstract MP10: Furin-Mediated Modification Is Required For Epithelial Sodium Channel-Activating Activity Of Soluble (Pro)Renin Receptor In Cultured Collecting Duct Cells

(Pro)renin receptor (PRR) contains overlapping cleavage site for site-1 protease (S1P) and furin for generation of soluble PRR (sPRR). Although S1P-mediated cleavage mediates the release of sPRR, the functional implication of furin-mediated cleavage is unclear. Here we tested whether furin-mediated cleavage was required for the activity of sPRR in activating ENaC in cultured M1 cells. M1 cells were transfected with pcDNA3.4 containing full-length PRR with (Furin Mut) or without (WT) mutagenesis of furin cleavage site; empty vector (EM) served a control. As compared with EM, overexpression of WT and Furin Mut vectors induced a more than 16-fold comparable increase in the release of sPRR. Amiloride-sensitive short circuit current as assessed by Ussing chamber technique was elevated by overexpression of WT PRR which was reduced by 37% by Furin Mut (ENaC activity: 1.00 + 0.06 μA/cm 2 in EM, 1.67 + 0.05 μA/cm 2 in WT, and 1.04 + 0.07 μA/cm 2 in Furin Mut, p < 0.05). In parallel, the expression of α-ENaC but not β or γ subunit as assessed by immunoblotting and qRT-PCR analysis was elevated by WT PRR and this increase was blunted by Furin Mut. In a separate experiment, M1 cells were transfected with pcDNA3.4 containing cDNA for sPRR with S1P cleavage (AA 1-282) (sPRR-S1P) or with furin cleavage (AA 1-279) (sPRR-furin); empty vector was used as a control. Overexpression of cDNA for the two types of sPRR induced a significant and comparable increase in the release of sPRR. By Ussing chamber technique, ENaC activity was 1.00 + 0.09 μA/cm 2 in EM, 1.03 + 0.10 μA/cm 2 in sPRR-S1P, and 1.39 + 0.14 μA/cm 2 in sPRR-furin, p < 0.05. Lastly, 293 cells were pretreated for 1 h with furin inhibitor α1-antitrypsin Portland followed by transfection with empty vector, WT PRR, or Furin Mut vectors. sPRR in the condition medium was enriched by using protein centrifugal filter devices and applied to M1 cells for 10 min followed by measurement of ENaC activity. Pretreatment with furin inhibition attenuated ENaC-acting activity induced by overexpression of WT PRR. Overall, the three independent approaches consistently demonstrated that furin-mediated modification is required for the activity of sPRR to increase ENaC-mediated Na + transport in the CD cells.