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. 2017 Mar 14;18(11):2566-2575.
doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2017.02.061.

T Follicular Helper Cells Promote a Beneficial Gut Ecosystem for Host Metabolic Homeostasis by Sensing Microbiota-Derived Extracellular ATP

Lisa Perruzza  1 , Giorgio Gargari  2 , Michele Proietti  3 , Bruno Fosso  4 , Anna Maria D'Erchia  5 , Caterina Elisa Faliti  1 , Tanja Rezzonico-Jost  3 , Daniela Scribano  6 , Laura Mauri  7 , Diego Colombo  7 , Giovanni Pellegrini  8 , Annalisa Moregola  9 , Catherine Mooser  10 , Graziano Pesole  5 , Mauro Nicoletti  11 , Giuseppe Danilo Norata  12 , Markus B Geuking  13 , Kathy D McCoy  14 , Simone Guglielmetti  2 , Fabio Grassi  15
Affiliations

T Follicular Helper Cells Promote a Beneficial Gut Ecosystem for Host Metabolic Homeostasis by Sensing Microbiota-Derived Extracellular ATP

Lisa Perruzza et al. Cell Rep. .

Abstract

The ATP-gated ionotropic P2X7 receptor regulates T follicular helper (Tfh) cell abundance in the Peyer's patches (PPs) of the small intestine; deletion of P2rx7, encoding for P2X7, in Tfh cells results in enhanced IgA secretion and binding to commensal bacteria. Here, we show that Tfh cell activity is important for generating a diverse bacterial community in the gut and that sensing of microbiota-derived extracellular ATP via P2X7 promotes the generation of a proficient gut ecosystem for metabolic homeostasis. The results of this study indicate that Tfh cells play a role in host-microbiota mutualism beyond protecting the intestinal mucosa by induction of affinity-matured IgA and suggest that extracellular ATP constitutes an inter-kingdom signaling molecule important for selecting a beneficial microbial community for the host via P2X7-mediated regulation of B cell help.

Keywords: ATP; IgA; P2rx7; T follicular helper cells; metabolism; microbiota.

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Figures

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Graphical abstract
Figure 1
Figure 1
Alterations of Metabolic Parameters and Microbiota Composition in P2rx7−/− Mice (A–F) P2rx7−/− and WT littermates, weight gain in WT and P2rx7−/− mice, and body weight (n = 20) (A) and blood glucose concentration (n = 20) (B) at 9 weeks. Also shown are representative abdomens and statistics of WAT weights (n = 20) (C). Serum insulin and leptin concentrations (n = 20) are shown (D) as well as glucose homeostasis determined by GTT (E) and ITT (F) in WT and P2rx7−/− mice (n = 5). (G) Similarity in mouse microbiota by Euclidean distances between cecal samples from WT and P2rx7−/− mice based on the taxonomic assignment at family rank. Dendrograms show the Euclidean distances between cecal samples, and the matrix colors are proportional to the observed distances. (H) Heatmap of bacterial families in cecal microbiota that discriminate WT from P2rx7−/− mice. Families were selected according to p < 0.1 with two-tailed unpaired Student’s t test. Each line represents one family, and each column represents an individual mouse. Mean relative abundances of families detected in WT and P2rx7−/− mice and the p value for each family are shown. Operational taxonomic units (OTUs) with a relative abundance higher than 0.1% in at least one sample are shown in bold. (I) SCFA quantification in cecum content of WT and P2rx7−/− mice (n = 5). Means ± SEM are shown, and Mann-Whitney test (A–D, and I) and two-way ANOVA (E and F) were used. ∗p < 0.05, ∗∗p < 0.01, ∗∗∗p < 0.001; n.s., non-significant.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Cell-Intrinsic Role of Tfh Cells in Regulating Glucose Metabolism (A–C) Body weight variation and WAT weight (A); blood glucose, insulin, and leptin levels (B); and GTT (C) in Cd3e−/− mice reconstituted with WT or P2rx7−/− Tfh cells (n = 5). (D and E) Phylum (D) and family (E) relative abundances in Cd3e−/− mice reconstituted with WT or P2rx7−/− Tfh cells (n = 5). (F) Butyrate quantification in cecum content of Cd3e−/− mice reconstituted with WT or P2rx7−/− Tfh cells (n = 5). Means ± SEM are shown, and Mann-Whitney test (A, B, and D–F) and two-way ANOVA (C) were used. ∗p < 0.05, ∗∗p < 0.01, ∗∗∗p < 0.001.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Crucial Role of Tfh Cells in Shaping Commensal Microbiota Composition (A) Similarity among cecal microbiota through non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) based on an unweighted Unifrac dissimilarity matrix. (B) Euclidean distances inferred on taxonomic assignment at family rank between cecal samples from Icos−/− and Icos−/−P2rx7−/− mice. (C) Statistical analysis of CFUs of aerobic and anaerobic bacteria recovered from the ceca of WT, P2rx7−/− (n = 10), Icos−/−, and Icos−/−P2rx7−/− mice (n = 5). (D) Box and whisker plots of the Shannon diversity index at the bacterial family level in WT, P2rx7−/−, Icos−/−, and Icos−/−P2rx7−/− mouse cecal samples (n = 4). (E and F) Relative abundance of the Lachnospiraceae family (E) and Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio (F) in the indicated mice (n = 4). (G) Body and WAT weights and blood glucose, insulin, and leptin concentrations (n = 10). (H) GTT (left) and ITT (right) in WT (white dots), P2rx7−/− (black squares), Icos−/− (light gray) and Icos−/−P2rx7−/− (dark gray) mice (n = 10). Means ± SEM are shown, and Mann-Whitney test (C–G) and two-way ANOVA (H) were used. ∗p < 0.05, ∗∗p < 0.01, ∗∗∗p < 0.001.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Role of Microbiota of P2rx7−/− Mice in Altering Glucose Metabolism (A–E) Body (A) and WAT (B) weight variation, blood glucose (C) and insulin levels (D), and GTT (E) in WT and P2rx7−/− mice after 14 days of VAM (n = 5). (F–I) Weight gain (F), body and WAT weights (G), blood glucose and insulin (H), and GTT (I) in WT mice transplanted with WT or P2rx7−/− microbiota (n = 5). (J) Concentrations of ATP in ilea from GF mice either non-colonized (GF) or colonized with pBAD28 or pHND10 bearing E. coli. (K) Quantification of Tfh and GC B cells in non-colonized or monocolonized animals as indicated. (L) Intestinal anti-E. coli IgA quantification at fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) (see Experimental Procedures) in GF mice or mice monocolonized with the indicated E. coli transformants (n = 5). Means ± SEM are shown, and Mann-Whitney test (A–D, G, H, and J–L) and two-way ANOVA (E, F, and I) were used. ∗p < 0.05, ∗∗p < 0.01, ∗∗∗p < 0.001.
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