Malnutrition affects up to one billion people in the world and is a major cause of mortality. In many cases, malnutrition is associated with diarrhoea and intestinal inflammation, further contributing to morbidity and death. The mechanisms by which unbalanced dietary nutrients affect intestinal homeostasis are largely unknown. Here we report that deficiency in murine angiotensin I converting enzyme (peptidyl-dipeptidase A) 2 (Ace2), which encodes a key regulatory enzyme of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS), results in highly increased susceptibility to intestinal inflammation induced by epithelial damage. The RAS is known to be involved in acute lung failure, cardiovascular functions and SARS infections. Mechanistically, ACE2 has a RAS-independent function, regulating intestinal amino acid homeostasis, expression of antimicrobial peptides, and the ecology of the gut microbiome. Transplantation of the altered microbiota from Ace2 mutant mice into germ-free wild-type hosts was able to transmit the increased propensity to develop severe colitis. ACE2-dependent changes in epithelial immunity and the gut microbiota can be directly regulated by the dietary amino acid tryptophan. Our results identify ACE2 as a key regulator of dietary amino acid homeostasis, innate immunity, gut microbial ecology, and transmissible susceptibility to colitis. These results provide a molecular explanation for how amino acid malnutrition can cause intestinal inflammation and diarrhoea. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nature11228Posted at the Zurich Open Repository and Archive, University of Zurich ZORA URL: https://doi.org/10.5167/uzh-65968 Originally published at: Hashimoto, Tatsuo; Perlot, Thomas; Rehman, Ateequr; Trichereau, Jean; Ishiguro, Hiroaki; Paolino, Magdalena; Sigl, Verena; Hanada, Toshikatsu; Hanada, Reiko; Lipinski, Simone; Wild, Birgit; Camargo, Simone M R; Singer, Dustin; Richter, Andreas; Kuba, Keiji; Fukamizu, Akiyoshi; Schreiber, Stefan; Clevers, Hans; Verrey, Francois; Rosenstiel, Philip; Penninger, Josef M (2012 Supplementary Fig. 4), indicating that these effects are independent of the classical RAS system. Whether ACE inhibition might alter the phenotype of Agtr1a -/-Ace2 -/y mice needs to be further examined. In addition to cleaving AngII, ACE2 exhibits catalytic activity towards a second peptide system, Apelin 15 .However, DSS-induced colitis was not altered in mice carrying genetic mutations in Apelin ( Supplementary Fig. 5) or its receptor Apj (Supplementary Fig. 6). Thus, the catalytic activity of ACE2, essential for its function in the RAS and Apelin cleavage, has no overt role in DSS-induced intestinal inflammation.It had been reported that the RAS can control immune functions 16 . However, in unchallenged Ace2 mutant mice, we did not observe any apparent differences in immune cell populations of the colon and small intestine (insert: "not shown"?). Fig. 10a,b) nor did it affect apoptosis rates of intestinal epithelial cells ( Supplementary Fig. 10a,c).ACE levels were slightly, albeit not significa...

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Thrombin is a coagulation protease that activates platelets, leukocytes, endothelial and mesenchymal cells at sites of vascular injury, acting partly through an unusual proteolytically activated G-protein-coupled receptor. Knockout of the gene encoding this receptor provided definitive evidence for a second thrombin receptor in mouse platelets and for tissue-specific roles for different thrombin receptors. We now report the cloning and characterization of a new human thrombin receptor, designated protease-activated receptor 3 (PAR3). PAR3 can mediate thrombin-triggered phosphoinositide hydrolysis and is expressed in a variety of tissues, including human bone marrow and mouse megakaryocytes, making it a candidate for the sought-after second platelet thrombin receptor. PAR3 provides a new tool for understanding thrombin signalling and a possible target for therapeutics designed selectively to block thrombotic, inflammatory and proliferative responses to thrombin.

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Thrombin, a coagulation protease generated at sites of vascular injury, activates platelets, endothelial cells, leukocytes and mesenchymal cells. A G-protein-coupled receptor that is proteolytically activated by thrombin is a target for drug development aimed at blocking thrombosis, inflammation and proliferation. Here we show that although disruption of the thrombin receptor (tr) gene in mice causes about half of the tr-/- embryos to die at embryonic day 9-10, half survive to become grossly normal adult mice with no bleeding diathesis. Strikingly, tr-/- platelets respond strongly to thrombin, whereas tr-/- fibroblasts lose their ability to respond to thrombin. We conclude that the thrombin receptor plays an unexpected role in embryonic development, suggesting a possible new function for the 'coagulation' proteases themselves. Moreover, a second platelet thrombin receptor exists, and different thrombin receptors have tissue-specific roles. This may allow development of therapeutics that will selectively block thrombin's different cellular actions.