Requirement of a Wnt5A–microbiota axis in the maintenance of gut B-cell repertoire and protection from infection

Abstract

ABSTRACT We investigated the influence of a Wnt5A–gut microbiota axis on gut B-cell repertoire and protection from infection, having previously demonstrated that Wnt5A in association with gut commensals helps shape gut T-cell repertoire. Accordingly, Wnt5A heterozygous mice, which express less than wild-type level of Wnt5A, and their isolated Peyer’s patches (PPs) were studied in comparison with the wild-type counterparts. The percentages of IgM- and IgA-expressing B cells were quite similar in the PP of both sets of mice. However, the PP of the Wnt5A heterozygous mice harbored significantly higher than wild-type levels of microbiota-bound B cell-secreted IgA, indicating the prevalence of a microbial population therein, which is significantly altered from that of wild-type. Additionally, the percentage of PP IgG1-expressing B cells was appreciably depressed in the Wnt5A heterozygous mice in comparison to wild-type. Wnt5A heterozygous mice, furthermore, exhibited notably higher than the wild-type levels of morbidity and mortality following infection with Salmonella typhimurium , a common gut pathogen. Differences in morbidity/mortality correlated with considerable disparity between the PP–B-cell repertoires of the Salmonella -infected Wnt5A heterozygous and wild-type mice, in which the percentage of IgG1-expressing B1b cells in the PP of heterozygous mice remains significantly low as compared to wild-type. Overall, these results suggest that a gut Wnt5A–microbiota axis is intrinsically associated with the maintenance of gut B-cell repertoire and protection from infection. IMPORTANCE Although it is well accepted that B cells and microbiota are required for protection from infection and preservation of gut health, a lot remains unknown about how the optimum B-cell repertoire and microbiota are maintained in the gut. The importance of this study lies in the fact that it unveils a potential role of a growth factor termed Wnt5A in the safeguarding of the gut B-cell population and microbiota, thereby protecting the gut from the deleterious effect of infections by common pathogens. Documentation of the involvement of a Wnt5A–microbiota axis in the shaping of a protective gut B-cell repertoire, furthermore, opens up new avenues of investigations for understanding gut disorders related to microbial dysbiosis and B-cell homeostasis that, till date, are considered incurable.