Type III interferons induce pyroptosis in gut epithelial cells and delay tissue restitution upon intestinal injury

To investigate the transcriptional program within the intestinal epithelial cells (IECs) controlling the impact of type III interferons (IFN-λ) on intestinal recovery, we performed a single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) on murine IECs following irradiation. Mice deficient for the IFN-λ receptor in IECs and wild-type mice underwent targeted irradiation. 96h after irradiation, IECs were isolated by fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) based on the expression of EPCAM and analyzed using scRNA-seq.