Intestinal epithelial IPMK protects mice from experimental colitis via governing colonic tuft cell development

As a pleiotropic signaling factor, inositol polyphosphate multikinase (IPMK) is involved in key biological events such as growth and innate immunity, acting either enzymatically to mediate the biosynthesis of inositol polyphosphates and phosphatidylinositol 3,4,5-trisphosphates, or noncatalytically to control key signaling target molecules. However, the functional significance of IPMK in regulating gut epithelial homeostasis remains largely unknown. Here we show that intestinal epithelial-specific deletion of IPMK aggravates dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced colitis with higher clinical colitis scores and elevated epithelial barrier permeability. No apparent defects in PI3K-AKT signaling pathway and pro-inflammatory cytokine production were found in IPMK-deficient colons challenged by DSS treatment. RNA-sequencing and FACS analyses further revealed significantly decreased tuft cells in IPMK-deficient colons. Importantly, IPMK deletion in the gut epithelium was found to decrease choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) but not IL-25, suggesting selective loss of cholinergic signaling. Thus, these findings identify IPMK as a physiological determinant of tuft cell differentiation and highlight the critical function of IPMK in the control of gut homeostasis.