Constitutive TLR4 signalling in intestinal epithelium reduces tumor load by increasing apoptosis in APCMin/+ mice

The microbial pattern-recognizing Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are major signal transducers known to shape and influence the postnatal maturation of host intestinal epithelium. Perturbations in this intricate host-microbe cross-talk have been reported to be associated with uncontrolled epithelial cell growth and thus potential cancer development by mechanisms which are largely unknown. We therefore generated transgenic mice carrying a constitutively active TLR4 (CD4-TLR4) linked to an intestinal epithelial cell-specific promoter. Ex vivo analysis of transgenic crypt-villus organoid cultures revealed an increased proliferative capacity and a lowered cyclooxygenase 2 (Cox-2) expression in these organoids compared with wild-type control cultures. Introducing the CD4-TLR4 transgene into APC(Min/+) mice (CD4-TLR4-APC(Min/+)), a model of colorectal carcinoma, resulted in a dramatic drop in tumor load as compared with control APC(Min/+) mice. Intestinal tumors from CD4-TLR4-APC(Min/+) mice displayed reduced Cox-2 protein, elevated interferon beta expression and increased caspase-3 activity, which correlated with increased apoptosis in vivo. Thus, our data reveal that host microbiota-mediated signal transduction via TLR4 in intestinal epithelial cells is far more complex than what is previously reported.