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The transcription factor HIF-1α mediates plasticity of NKp46+ innate lymphoid cells in the gut

  • Ewelina Krzywinska
  • , Michal Sobecki
  • , Shunmugam Nagarajan
  • , Julian Zacharjasz
  • , Murtaza M. Tambuwala
  • , Abigaelle Pelletier
  • , Eoin Cummins
  • , Dagmar Gotthardt
  • , Joachim Fandrey
  • , Yann M. Kerdiles
  • , Carole Peyssonnaux
  • , Cormac T. Taylor
  • , Veronika Sexl
  • , Christian Stockmann

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

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Abstract

Gut innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) show remarkable phenotypic diversity, yet microenvironmental factors that drive this plasticity are incompletely understood. The balance between NKp46+, IL-22-producing, group 3 ILCs (ILC3s) and interferon (IFN)-γ-producing group 1 ILCs (ILC1s) contributes to gut homeostasis. The gut mucosa is characterized by physiological hypoxia, and adaptation to low oxygen is mediated by hypoxia-inducible transcription factors (HIFs). However, the impact of HIFs on ILC phenotype and gut homeostasis is not well understood. Mice lacking the HIF-1α isoform in NKp46+ ILCs show a decrease in IFN-γ-expressing, T-bet+, NKp46+ ILC1s and a concomitant increase in IL-22-expressing, RORγt+, NKp46+ ILC3s in the gut mucosa. Single-cell RNA sequencing revealed HIF-1α as a driver of ILC phenotypes, where HIF-1α promotes the ILC1 phenotype by direct up-regulation of T-bet. Loss of HIF-1α in NKp46+ cells prevents ILC3-to-ILC1 conversion, increases the expression of IL-22-inducible genes, and confers protection against intestinal damage. Taken together, our results suggest that HIF-1α shapes the ILC phenotype in the gut. [Abstract copyright: © 2022 Krzywinska et al.]
Original languageEnglish
Article numbere20210909
JournalJournal of Experimental Medicine
Volume219
Issue number2
Early online date13 Jan 2022
DOIs
Publication statusPublished (in print/issue) - 13 Jan 2022

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
We acknowledge the support of the Swiss National Fund (310030_179235), the Swiss National Centre for Competence in Research “Kidney.CH” (project grant N-403-06-26 HCP), the Swiss Cancer League (KFS-4398-02-2018 and KFS-5402-08-2021), and support from the SKINTEGRITY.CH collaborative research program. M. Sobecki was supported by the internal postdoc funding program of the University of Zurich (For-schungskredit UZH Postdoc 2019).

Funding Information:
We thank the Laboratory Animal Services Center (LASC) for animal care; the UZH Irchel Flow Cytometry core facility and cell sorting core facility for cell sorting, especially Mario Wickert; the Functional Genomics Center Zurich facility for scRNA-seq service, especially Doris Popovic and Daym? Gonzalez Ro-driguez; and the Zurich Integrative Rodent Physiology facility, especially Petra Seebeck and Nadine N?gele. We acknowledge the support of the Swiss National Fund (310030_179235), the Swiss National Centre for Competence in Research ?Kidney.CH? (project grant N-403-06-26 HCP), the Swiss Cancer League (KFS-4398-02-2018 and KFS-5402-08-2021), and support from the SKINTEGRITY.CH collaborative research program. M. Sobecki was supported by the internal postdoc funding program of the University of Zurich (For-schungskredit UZH Postdoc 2019).

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 Krzywinska et al.

Funding

Funding Information: We acknowledge the support of the Swiss National Fund (310030_179235), the Swiss National Centre for Competence in Research “Kidney.CH” (project grant N-403-06-26 HCP), the Swiss Cancer League (KFS-4398-02-2018 and KFS-5402-08-2021), and support from the SKINTEGRITY.CH collaborative research program. M. Sobecki was supported by the internal postdoc funding program of the University of Zurich (For-schungskredit UZH Postdoc 2019). Funding Information: We thank the Laboratory Animal Services Center (LASC) for animal care; the UZH Irchel Flow Cytometry core facility and cell sorting core facility for cell sorting, especially Mario Wickert; the Functional Genomics Center Zurich facility for scRNA-seq service, especially Doris Popovic and Daym? Gonzalez Ro-driguez; and the Zurich Integrative Rodent Physiology facility, especially Petra Seebeck and Nadine N?gele. We acknowledge the support of the Swiss National Fund (310030_179235), the Swiss National Centre for Competence in Research ?Kidney.CH? (project grant N-403-06-26 HCP), the Swiss Cancer League (KFS-4398-02-2018 and KFS-5402-08-2021), and support from the SKINTEGRITY.CH collaborative research program. M. Sobecki was supported by the internal postdoc funding program of the University of Zurich (For-schungskredit UZH Postdoc 2019). Publisher Copyright: © 2022 Krzywinska et al.

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

  1. SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being
    SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being

Keywords

  • Immunology
  • Immunology and Allergy

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