Intestinal epithelia and myeloid immune cells shape colitis severity and colorectal carcinogenesis via High-mobility group box protein 1

TY - JOUR

T1 - Intestinal epithelia and myeloid immune cells shape colitis severity and colorectal carcinogenesis via High-mobility group box protein 1

AU - Foelsch, Katharina

AU - Pelczar, Penelope

AU - Zierz, Elisabeth

AU - Kondratowicz, Stephanie

AU - Qi, Minyue

AU - Müller, Christian

AU - Alawi, Malik

AU - Huebener, Sina

AU - Clauditz, Till

AU - Gagliani, Nicola

AU - Huber, Samuel

AU - Huebener, Peter

N1 - © The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of European Crohn’s and Colitis Organisation. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

PY - 2024/8/6

Y1 - 2024/8/6

N2 - BACKGROUND: High-mobility group box protein 1 [HMGB1] is a ubiquitous nucleoprotein with immune-regulatory properties following cellular secretion or release in sterile and in infectious inflammation. Stool and serum HMGB1 levels correlate with colitis severity and colorectal cancer [CRC] progression, yet recent reports indicate that HMGB1 mainly operates as an intracellular determinant of enterocyte fate during colitis, and investigations into the roles of HMGB1 in CRC are lacking.METHODS: Using mice with conditional HMGB1-knockout in enterocytes [Hmgb1ΔIEC] and myeloid cells [Hmgb1ΔLysM], respectively, we explored functions of HMGB1 in pathogenetically diverse contexts of colitis and colitis-associated CRC.RESULTS: HMGB1 is overexpressed in human inflammatory bowel disease and gastrointestinal cancers, and HMGB1 protein localises in enterocytes and stromal cells in colitis and CRC specimens from humans and rodents. As previously described, enterocyte HMGB1 deficiency aggravates severe chemical-induced intestinal injury, but not Citrobacter rodentium or T cell transfer colitis in mice. HMGB1-deficient enterocytes and organoids do not exhibit deviant apoptotic or autophagic activity, altered proliferative or migratory capacity, abnormal intestinal permeability, or aberrant DSS-induced organoid inflammation in vitro. Instead, we observed altered in vivo reprogramming of both intestinal epithelia and infiltrating myeloid cells in Hmgb1ΔIEC early during colitis, suggesting HMGB1-mediated paracrine injury signalling. Hmgb1ΔIEC had higher CRC burden than wild types in the Apc+/min model, whereas inflammatory CRC was attenuated in Hmgb1ΔLysM. Cellular and molecular phenotyping of Hmgb1ΔIEC and Hmgb1ΔLysM cancers indicates context-dependent transcriptional modulation of immune signalling and extracellular matrix remodelling via HMGB1.CONCLUSION: Enterocytes and myeloid cells context-dependently regulate host responses to severe colitis and maladaptive intestinal wound healing via HMGB1.

AB - BACKGROUND: High-mobility group box protein 1 [HMGB1] is a ubiquitous nucleoprotein with immune-regulatory properties following cellular secretion or release in sterile and in infectious inflammation. Stool and serum HMGB1 levels correlate with colitis severity and colorectal cancer [CRC] progression, yet recent reports indicate that HMGB1 mainly operates as an intracellular determinant of enterocyte fate during colitis, and investigations into the roles of HMGB1 in CRC are lacking.METHODS: Using mice with conditional HMGB1-knockout in enterocytes [Hmgb1ΔIEC] and myeloid cells [Hmgb1ΔLysM], respectively, we explored functions of HMGB1 in pathogenetically diverse contexts of colitis and colitis-associated CRC.RESULTS: HMGB1 is overexpressed in human inflammatory bowel disease and gastrointestinal cancers, and HMGB1 protein localises in enterocytes and stromal cells in colitis and CRC specimens from humans and rodents. As previously described, enterocyte HMGB1 deficiency aggravates severe chemical-induced intestinal injury, but not Citrobacter rodentium or T cell transfer colitis in mice. HMGB1-deficient enterocytes and organoids do not exhibit deviant apoptotic or autophagic activity, altered proliferative or migratory capacity, abnormal intestinal permeability, or aberrant DSS-induced organoid inflammation in vitro. Instead, we observed altered in vivo reprogramming of both intestinal epithelia and infiltrating myeloid cells in Hmgb1ΔIEC early during colitis, suggesting HMGB1-mediated paracrine injury signalling. Hmgb1ΔIEC had higher CRC burden than wild types in the Apc+/min model, whereas inflammatory CRC was attenuated in Hmgb1ΔLysM. Cellular and molecular phenotyping of Hmgb1ΔIEC and Hmgb1ΔLysM cancers indicates context-dependent transcriptional modulation of immune signalling and extracellular matrix remodelling via HMGB1.CONCLUSION: Enterocytes and myeloid cells context-dependently regulate host responses to severe colitis and maladaptive intestinal wound healing via HMGB1.

U2 - 10.1093/ecco-jcc/jjae017

DO - 10.1093/ecco-jcc/jjae017

M3 - SCORING: Journal article

C2 - 38285546

VL - 18

SP - 1122

EP - 1133

JO - J CROHNS COLITIS

JF - J CROHNS COLITIS

SN - 1873-9946

IS - 7

ER -