14 COLONIC EPITHELIAL CELL-SPECIFIC AFTIPHILIN KNOCKDOWN REGULATES EPITHELIAL BARRIER FUNCTION THROUGH MYOSIN LIGHT CHAIN-ASSOCIATED ACTIN ORGANIZATION IN VITRO AND INTESTINAL LENGTH IN VIVO

Abstract

Abstract Background and Aims Colonic epithelial integrity is often compromised during colonic inflammation and Inflammatory Bowel Disease. Aftiphilin (AFTPH) is a downstream target of microRNA-133a and its expression is reduced in colonic tissues of wild type mice from experimental colitis models and colonic biopsies from patients with ulcerative colitis. We have previously shown that AFTPH is involved in regulating intestinal epithelial barrier function and actin organization in human colonic epithelial cells in vitro (DDW 2016). On the other hand, our results suggested that global aftiphilin knock-out is embryonic lethal in mouse models (DDW 2019). Here, we further examined the role of AFTPH in regulating actin organization in vitro and characterize the colonic epithelial cell-specific aftiphilin knock-out mice. Methods Human colonic epithelial NCM460 cells were transfected with si-RNA against AFTPH to achieve transient AFTPH gene-silencing. Stable AFTPH knock-down clones were generated by transducing Caco2-BBE cells with recombinant lentivirus carrying sh-AFTPH or control sh-RNA. To create intestinal epithelial cell-specific aftiphilin knock-out mice, Aftph flox/flox mice were cross-bred with B6.Cg-Tg(Vil1-cre)997Gum/J mice, which express Villin-driven Cre recombinase (Vil-Cre), to generate intestinal epithelial cell-specific aftiphilin knock-out mice (Aftph Vil-/Vil-). Protein expression of F- and G-actin and p70S6K were detected using Western blot. Tissues from various organs were collected with Aftph Vil-/Vil- and its wildtype counterparts at 12 weeks. Results Results from western blot analysis showed that F-/G-actin ratio in AFTPH gene-silenced NCM460 cells were 0.6±0.17 fold, when compared to the treatment control. In addition, AFTPH gene-silencing in human colonic epithelial cells activated p70S6K, a kinase that is involved in actin organization, when compared to treatment control (1.2±0.15 vs. 2.0±0.15, p=0.0354). Furthermore, transepithelial electric resistance (TER) of Caco2-BBE cells deficient in AFTPH is significantly lower than that of control cells (0.5±0.07 fold). Lastly, in vivo intestinal epithelial cell-specific Aftph knock-out increased the length of small intestine, when compared to that of wild type mice (30.7±0.33 vs. 34.8±0.97, p=0.02), while the tissue weight of spleen to body weight was reduced (0.30±0.011 vs. 0.26±0.006, p=0.0169). Summary and Conclusions Our results indicate that AFTPH directly regulates epithelial barrier function and actin organization through mediating F-/G-actin ratio in human colonic epithelial cells, possibly through p70S6K. Importantly, intestinal epithelial cell-specific knock-out in vivo increased intestinal length and reduced size of the spleen. Our results suggested that AFTPH is crucial in regulating colonic epithelial barrier function in vitro and intestinal homeostasis.