Early Host Immune Responses in Human Gallbladder to Salmonella Typhi Strains from Patients with Acute and Chronic Infections

ABSTRACT: Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi (S. Typhi), a human-restricted pathogen, enters the host through the gut to cause typhoid fever. Recent calculations of the typhoid fever burden estimated that more than 20 million new typhoid fever cases occur in low and middle-income countries, resulting in 129,000-223,000 deaths yearly. Interestingly, upon the resolution of acute disease, 1%-5% of patients become asymptomatic chronic carriers of S. Typhi. Chronically infected hosts are not only critical reservoirs of infection that transmit the disease to naive individuals but are also predisposed to developing gallbladder carcinoma (GBC). Nevertheless, the molecular mechanisms involved in the early interactions between gallbladder epithelial cells and S. Typhi remain largely unknown. Based on our previous studies showing that very closely related S. Typhi strains elicit distinct innate immune responses, we hypothesized that host molecular pathways activated by S. Typhi strains derived from acutely and chronically infected patients will differ. To test this hypothesis, we used a novel human organoid-derived polarized gallbladder monolayer (HODGM) model, and 13 S. Typhi strains derived from acutely (n=6) and chronically (n=7) infected patients. We found that S. Typhi strains derived from acutely and chronically infected patients differentially regulate mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and S6 transcription factors. This differential regulation impacts, at least in part, the cytokine signaling pathway involved in the production of TNF- and IL-6 and is likely to play a critical role in inducing chronic S. Typhi infection in the gallbladder.

ORGANISM(S): Homo sapiens

PROVIDER: GSE253700 | GEO | 2024/04/05

REPOSITORIES: GEO