Cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) and autophagy: hereditary defects in cystic fibrosis versus gluten-mediated inhibition in celiac disease

Cystic Fibrosis (CF) is the most frequent lethal monogenetic disease affecting humans. CF is characterized by mutations in cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR), a chloride channel whose malfunction triggers the activation of transglutaminase-2 (TGM2), as well as the inactivation of the Beclin-1 (BECN1) complex resulting in disabled autophagy. CFTR inhibition, TGM2 activation and BECN1 sequestration engage in an ‘infernal trio’ that locks the cell in a pro-inflammatory state through anti-homeostatic feedforward loops. Thus, stimulation of CFTR function, TGM2 inhibition and autophagy stimulation can be used to treat CF patients. Several studies indicate that patients with CF have a higher incidence of celiac disease (CD) and that mice bearing genetically determined CFTR defects are particularly sensitive to the enteropathogenic effects of the orally supplied gliadin (a gluten-derived protein). A gluten/gliadin-derived peptide (P31–43) inhibits CFTR in mouse intestinal epithelial cells, causing a local stress response that contributes to the immunopathology of CD. In particular, P31–43-induced CFTR inhibition elicits an epithelial stress response perturbing proteostasis. This event triggers TGM2 activation, BECN1 sequestration and results in molecular crosslinking of CFTR and P31-43 by TGM2. Importantly, stimulation of CFTR function with a pharmacological potentiator (Ivacaftor), which is approved for the treatment of CF, could attenuate the autophagy-inhibition and pro-inflammatory effects of gliadin in preclinical models of CD. Thus, CD shares with CF a common molecular mechanism involving CFTR inhibition that might respond to drugs that intercept the "infernal trio". Here, we highlight how drugs available for CF treatment could be repurposed for the therapy of CD.