An animal model for autoinflammation with infantile enterocolitis

Abstract

Inflammasomes, particularly NLRC4, play a crucial role in immune responses to intracellular bacterial infections. However, gain-of-function mutations of NLRC4 are linked to severe autoinflammatory diseases, including autoinflammation with infantile enterocolitis (AIFEC). Existing mouse models do not adequately replicate the chronic, unprovoked inflammation observed in AIFEC patients. In this study, we developed a loxP-flanked NLRC4 V341A knock-in (KI) mouse model. Our global NLRC4 V341A KI mice exhibited symptoms closely mirroring those of human AIFEC. These mice demonstrated severe infantile enterocolitis, characterized by heightened intestinal inflammation, compromised intestinal barrier integrity, disrupted gut epithelium, and severe diarrhea, with high mortality within 10 days postnatally. Additionally, they displayed systemic autoinflammation marked by elevated levels of IL-1β, IL-18, and IL-6, alongside cytopenia and hemophagocytosis. In contrast, adult NLRC4 conditional KI mice exhibited autoinflammation with only mild enterocolitis. Since AIFEC is characterized by life-threatening enterocolitis in infancy and recurrent severe autoinflammation throughout life, our conditional NLRC4 KI model effectively recapitulates the clinical features of human AIFEC. Moreover, the NLRC4 V341A-mediated monogenic infantile enterocolitis observed in our model resembles infantile-onset inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), positioning it as a valuable platform for research on very early-onset IBD.