Neurotrophic tyrosine kinase receptor 1 is a direct transcriptional and epigenetic target of IL-13 involved in allergic inflammation

Although IL-13 and neurotrophins are functionally important for the pathogenesis of immune responses, the interaction of these pathways has not been explored. Herein, by interrogating IL-13–induced responses in human epithelial cells we show that neurotrophic tyrosine kinase receptor, type 1 (NTRK1), a cognate, high-affinity receptor for nerve growth factor (NGF), is an early transcriptional IL-13 target. Induction of NTRK1 was accompanied by accumulation of activating epigenetic marks in the promoter; transcriptional and epigenetic changes were STAT6-dependent. Using eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) as a model for human allergic inflammation, we found that NTRK1 was increased in inflamed tissue, dynamically expressed as a function of disease activity, and the downstream mediator of NTRK1 signaling early growth response 1 (EGR1) protein was elevated in allergic inflammatory tissue compared with control tissue. Unlike NTRK1, its ligand NGF was constitutively expressed in control and disease states, indicating that IL-13–stimulated NTRK1 induction is a limiting factor in pathway activation. In epithelial cells, NGF and IL-13 synergistically induced several target genes, including CCL26 (eotaxin-3). In summary, we have demonstrated that IL-13 confers epithelial cell responsiveness to NGF by regulating NTRK1 levels by a transcriptional and epigenetic mechanism and that this process likely contributes to allergic inflammation.