The goal of this application is to elucidate the molecular basis for invasion and intoxication of intestinal cells by cholera toxin (CT), the causative agent of Asiatic cholera, and for induction of innate immunity. Mucosal surfaces represent vast areas where host tissues are separated from the environment only by a delicate but highly effective single layer of columnar epithelial cells, joined by tight junctions that are impermeable to proteins and even small peptides. Here, we study how a bacterial protein breeches this barrier to enter the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), and then cytosol, of host intestinal cells. To do this, the toxin co-opts a sphingolipid receptor (ganglioside GM1) and endogenous mechanisms of membrane and lipid trafficking for entry into the ER. Once in the ER, a fragment of CT, the A1-chain, then enters the cytosol by hijacking the machinery essential for protein quality control in the biosynthetic pathway, which senses and eventually degrades (by retro-translocation to the cytosol) all terminally-misfolded proteins in the ER lumen. We recently found that the intestinal cell senses entry of the A1-chain into the ER to induce an innate immune response, even when the toxin is rendered enzymatically inert, suggesting a general mechanism of innate immunity. Signal transduction in this pathway appears to be mediated by canonical sensors of ER stress, which are associated with the pathogenesis of IBD. The biology co-opted by CT to enter host cells is fundamental to intestinal cell structure and function, and clinically relevant for diverse human diseases in addition to the toxigenic diarrheas. This project proposes to continue 22 years of focused research. We will use biochemical, molecular, cell biological, and genetic approaches to: explain how GM1 sphingolipids and CT-GM1 complexes traffic to the ER and other destinations (Aim 1); analyze the processing of the toxin by the ER, and elucidate the mechanisms for transport to the cytosol, and for its induction of an innate immune response (Aim 2); and identify novel molecular components involved in all the toxin pathways using unbiased forward and reverse genetic approaches (Aim 3). We have established novel reagents and approaches to solve these problems, including: synthesis of GM1 structural isoforms for direct structure-function studies on sphingolipid trafficking; and preparation of novel CT mutants designed to isolate the fraction of toxin within the ER lumen or to trap it in intermediate reactions to understand how the ER processes the toxin for transport to the cytosol and for induction of innate immunity. We have also developed the zebrafish for genetic studies and identified 13 families by forward screen as resistant to intoxication. The mutant genes in these families will be identified by positional-mapping and their function studied.
The goal of this application is to understand how a bacterial protein can breech the intestinal barrier to cause diarrheal disease and to induce an innate immune response. The pathway models how some normal gut microbes might interact with the host in both health and disease. The topic is also relevant to mucosal delivery of drugs, vaccines, and immunomodulators for disease treatment.
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