Enhanced susceptibility to Citrobacter rodentium infection in microRNA-155-deficient mice.

Clare S., John V., Walker AW., Hill JL., Abreu-Goodger C., Hale C., Goulding D., Lawley TD., Mastroeni P., Frankel G., Enright AJ., Vigorito E., Dougan G.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small noncoding molecules that control gene expression posttranscriptionally, with microRNA-155 (miR-155) one of the first to be implicated in immune regulation. Here, we show that miR-155-deficient mice are less able to eradicate a mucosal Citrobacter rodentium infection than wild-type C57BL/6 mice. miR-155-deficient mice exhibited prolonged colonization associated with a higher C. rodentium burden in gastrointestinal tissue and spread into systemic tissues. Germinal center formation and humoral immune responses against C. rodentium were severely impaired in infected miR-155-deficient mice. A similarly susceptible phenotype was observed in μMT mice reconstituted with miR-155-deficient B cells, indicating that miR-155 is required intrinsically for mediating protection against this predominantly luminal bacterial pathogen.

DOI

10.1128/IAI.00969-12

Type

Journal article

Journal

Infect Immun

Publication Date

03/2013

Volume

81

Pages

723 - 732

Keywords

Animals, Citrobacter rodentium, Colitis, Enterobacteriaceae Infections, Female, Gene Expression Regulation, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Male, Mice, Mice, Inbred C57BL, Mice, Knockout, MicroRNAs, RNA, Ribosomal, 16S, Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction, Transcriptome

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