Abstract

In the intestine, luminal sampling by microfold (M) cells is crucial for inducing protective mucosal immune responses but can also serve as an entry pathway for pathogens, including bacteria and viruses. Enteric pathogens can influence intestinal M cell function; however, the molecular mechanisms involved in the regulation of uptake and transcytosis of gut cargo by human M cells remain to be determined. Understanding the mechanisms responsible for regulating human M cell function requires a relevant human model. In this study, human ileal enteroids established from healthy donors were grown as confluent monolayers on permeable supports and differentiated to express mature M cells. Enteric pathogens including enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC), adherent invasive E. coli (AIEC), and human rotavirus were apically exposed to M cell enteroid monolayers. M cell-mediated uptake and transcytosis was compared in enteroids infected by pathogenic or commensal bacteria (HS strain). EPEC and AIEC, but not HS, stimulated M cell uptake and transcytosis. We discovered that this pathogenspecific effect was dependent on expression of coronin 1a, a cytoskeletal remodeling protein. Using stable coronin 1a knockdown (KD) enteroids, we observed that EPEC-stimulated transcytosis of fluorescent beads was lost and associated with a significant decrease in the number of glycoprotein-2 positive (Gp-2+ve) M cells. The results of these studies demonstrate that coronin 1a is required for uptake and transcytosis of luminal cargo across human M cells and that coronin 1a is necessary for differentiation of mature M cells that actively transcytose luminal gut antigens in response to pathogenic, but not commensal, microbes.