PNAS: When cryptosporidium invades, the cortical cells in the intestines sound an alarm

Cryptosporidium disease is an infectious disease caused by tiny cryptosporidium, mainly characterized by acute diarrhea, characterized by cholera-like water diarrhea, which occurs several times a day and lasts for several days or even a month, often accompanied by abdominal pain, vomiting and fever.
for people with immunodeficiency, the incidence is more serious and even life-threatening.
in resource-poor areas, cryptosporidium disease is the main cause of death and stunting in children.
study, published recently in the journal PNAS, researchers tracked the first "dangerous" signals sent by cryptosporidium when it infected the body.
, when foreign bacteria invade, scientists first focus on immune cells, such as macrophages or deity cells.
, however, in this study, researchers found that the first warning signals sent by cryptosporidium when they invaded host cells were not immune cells, but cortical cells in the intestines that alerted them through the molecular subject NLRP6.
researchers used the natural mouse pathogen Cryptosporidium tyzzeri to demonstrate that inflammatory bodies play a key role in initiating this early response.
results found that mice that removed an enzyme in a key component of the inflammatory body, caspase-1, had much higher levels of infection, and that mice lacking caspase-1 in the intestinal cortectal cells had the same level of infection as mice that were completely lacking in the body, which meant that intestinal cortectal cells played a key role in it.
loss of inflammatory bodies can lead to more severe intestinal lesions. NLRP6 is responsible for fighting cryptosporidium infection. The researchers then looked for dangerous sensing mechanisms that drive inflammation in the intestines, such as looking at signaling molecules or cytokines that are usually associated with inflammatory body activation.
found that the loss of NLRP6 receptors can cause cryptosporidium infections out of control, and that mice that lack this cytokine or the ability to release it show more serious infections.
, the study sheds light on the interactions between cryptosporidium, the immune system, and inflammatory responses, providing important clues in preventing infections or treating inflammatory diseases caused by overactive immunity.
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