Diverse infections transcriptionally reprogram the intestinal epithelium and epithelial-immune cell interactions.

GutPath reveals a novel enterocyte transcriptional state during Yersinia pseudotuberculosis infection linked to bacterial load and tissue pathology.

• Why it matters: Understanding cellular responses and cell-cell communication in the ileum during infection is limited, hindering insights into disease mechanisms like Crohn's disease and infections.
• What they did: The study created GutPath, an atlas of over 500,000 single cells with RNA and protein profiles across 91 cell states in the ileum, capturing immune and pathogen-specific responses.
• The result: The atlas accurately reflects known immune responses and uncovers new cell states, providing a resource that may accelerate research into intestinal immune responses and pathogen interactions.