The oxidative burst generated by the host immune system can restrict intracellular parasite entry and growth. While this burst leads to the induction of antioxidative enzymes, the molecular ...mechanisms and the consequences of this counter-response on the life of intracellular human parasites are largely unknown. The transcription factor NF-E2-related factor (NRF2) could be a key mediator of antioxidant signaling during infection due to the entry of parasites. Here, we showed that NRF2 was strongly upregulated in infection with the human Leishmania protozoan parasites, its activation was dependent on a NADPH oxidase 2 (NOX2) and SRC family of protein tyrosine kinases (SFKs) signaling pathway and it reprogrammed host cell metabolism. In inflammatory leishmaniasis caused by a viral endosymbiont inducing TNF-α in chronic leishmaniasis, NRF2 activation promoted parasite persistence but limited TNF-α production and tissue destruction. These data provided evidence of the dual role of NRF2 in protecting both the invading pathogen from reactive oxygen species and the host from an excess of the TNF-α destructive pro-inflammatory cytokine.
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Leishmania parasites synthesize mannogens, a unique type of storage carbohydrate, from finely tuned interactions between synthesis and degradation by a family of mannosyltransferase/phosphorylases ...(MTPs) newly discovered by Sernee et al. The crucial roles of mannogen in regulating central carbon metabolism and in vivo virulence suggest the potential of MTPs as promising drug targets.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
The African trypanosome was thought to primarily develop in the bloodstream and interstitial spaces of its mammalian host. In this issue of Cell Host & Microbe, Trindade et al. (2016) report the ...surprising finding that during ongoing persistent infections in mice, a major fraction of the parasites reside within fatty tissues.
The African trypanosome was thought to primarily develop in the bloodstream and interstitial spaces of its mammalian host. In this issue of Cell Host & Microbe, Trindade et al. (2016) report the surprising finding that during ongoing persistent infections in mice, a major fraction of the parasites reside within fatty tissues.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
is the protozoan parasite causing Chagas disease, a Neglected Tropical Disease that affects 8 million people and causes 12,000 deaths per year, primarily because of cardiac pathology. Effective ...vaccination for
remains an elusive goal. The use of a live vaccine vector, especially one that mimics the pathogen target, may be superior to the use of recombinant protein or DNA vaccine formulations.
We generated recombinant
, a related trypanosomatid parasite, as a vaccine vehicle to express the immunogenic
-sialidase (TS) antigen. The induction of T cell and antibody responses, as well as
protective immunity generated by these vaccines were assessed in vivo.
We demonstrate that mice inoculated with these recombinant TS-expressing
parasites mount T cell and antibody responses directed against TS and are protected against future
infection. We also show that the partially attenuated
. major strain, previously found to induce protective immunity to virulent
infection without causing pathology, can also be engineered to express the TS antigen. This latter recombinant may represent a safe and effective option to explore for ultimate use in humans.
Altogether, these data indicate that
can stably express a
antigen and induce
-specific protective immunity, warranting further investigation of attenuated Leishmania parasites as vaccine.
Viruses are the most abundant biological entities on Earth and play a significant role in the evolution of many organisms and ecosystems. In pathogenic protozoa, the presence of viruses has been ...linked to an increased risk of treatment failure and severe clinical outcome. Here, we studied the molecular epidemiology of the zoonotic disease cutaneous leishmaniasis in Peru and Bolivia through a joint evolutionary analysis of Leishmania braziliensis and their dsRNA Leishmania virus 1. We show that parasite populations circulate in tropical rainforests and are associated with single viral lineages that appear in low prevalence. In contrast, groups of hybrid parasites are geographically and ecologically more dispersed and associated with an increased prevalence, diversity and spread of viruses. Our results suggest that parasite gene flow and hybridization increased the frequency of parasite-virus symbioses, a process that may change the epidemiology of leishmaniasis in the region.
Atypical cutaneous leishmaniasis (ACL) has become progressively more frequent in Corte de Pedra, Northeast Brazil. Herein we characterize clinical presentation, antimony response, cytokine production ...and parasite strains prevailing in ACL.
Between 2005 and 2012, 51 ACL (cases) and 51 temporally matched cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) subjects (controls) were enrolled and followed over time in Corte de Pedra. Clinical and therapeutic data were recorded for all subjects. Cytokine secretion by patients' peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) stimulated with soluble parasite antigen in vitro, and genotypes in a 600 base-pair locus in chromosome 28 (CHR28/425451) of the infecting L. (V.) braziliensis were compared between the two groups. ACL presented significantly more lesions in head and neck, and higher rate of antimony failure than CL. Cytosine-Adenine substitutions at CHR28/425451 positions 254 and 321 were highly associated with ACL (p<0.0001). In vitro stimulated ACL PBMCs produced lower levels of IFN-γ (p = 0.0002) and TNF (p <0.0001), and higher levels of IL-10 (p = 0.0006) and IL-17 (p = 0.0008) than CL PBMCs.
ACL found in Northeast Brazil is caused by distinct genotypes of L. (V.) braziliensis and presents a cytokine profile that departs from that in classical CL patients. We think that differences in antigenic contents among parasites may be in part responsible for the variation in cytokine responses and possibly immunopathology between CL and ACL.
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Recent data suggest enzymes of phospholipid and sphingolipid metabolism are critical for Leishmania viability and/or virulence, and could be a source for new drug targets.
In many eukaryotes, ...phospholipids (PLs) and sphingolipids (SLs) are abundant membrane components and reservoirs for important signaling molecules. In Leishmania, the composition, metabolism, and function of PLs and SLs differ significantly from those in mammalian cells. Although only a handful of enzymes have been experimentally characterized, available data suggest many steps of PL/SL metabolism are critical for Leishmania viability and/or virulence, and could be a source for new drug targets. Further studies of genes involved in the synthesis (de novo and salvage) and degradation of PLs and SLs will reveal their diverse effects on Leishmania pathogenesis.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
Significance Protozoan parasites of the genus Leishmania are transmitted by sand flies and produce diseases in humans ranging from localized cutaneous lesions to fatal visceral infection. Although ...these clinical outcomes have clear parasite species associations, the genes controlling these differences are not known. We provide, to our knowledge, the first experimental demonstration of genetic exchange in the sand fly vector between different Leishmania species: a cutaneous strain of Leishmania major and a visceral strain of Leishmania infantum. Eleven full genomic hybrids were generated that displayed differences in their ability to grow in the skin or viscera of mice, indicating that the genes controlling these traits may be polymorphic within the parental species and are potentially amenable to identification by classical linkage analysis.
Genetic exchange between Leishmania major strains during their development in the sand fly vector has been experimentally shown. To investigate the possibility of genetic exchange between different Leishmania species, a cutaneous strain of L. major and a visceral strain of Leishmania infantum , each bearing a different drug-resistant marker, were used to coinfect Lutzomyia longipalpis sand flies. Eleven double–drug-resistant progeny clones, each the product of an independent mating event, were generated and submitted to genotype and phenotype analyses. The analysis of multiple allelic markers across the genome suggested that each progeny clone inherited at least one full set of chromosomes from each parent, with loss of heterozygosity at some loci, and uniparental retention of maxicircle kinetoplast DNA. Hybrids with DNA contents of approximately 2n, 3n, and 4n were observed. In vivo studies revealed clear differences in the ability of the hybrids to produce pathology in the skin or to disseminate to and grow in the viscera, suggesting polymorphisms and differential inheritance of the gene(s) controlling these traits. The studies, to our knowledge, represent the first experimental confirmation of cross-species mating in Leishmania , opening the way toward genetic linkage analysis of important traits and providing strong evidence that genetic exchange is responsible for the generation of the mixed-species genotypes observed in natural populations.
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Invertebrate stages of Leishmania are capable of genetic exchange during their extracellular growth and development in the sand fly vector. Here we explore two variables: the ability of diverse L. ...major strains from across its natural range to undergo mating in pairwise tests; and the timing of the appearance of hybrids and their developmental stage associations within both natural (Phlebotomus duboscqi) and unnatural (Lutzomyia longipalpis) sand fly vectors. Following co-infection of flies with parental lines bearing independent drug markers, doubly-drug resistant hybrid progeny were selected, from which 96 clonal lines were analyzed for DNA content and genotyped for parent alleles at 4-6 unlinked nuclear loci as well as the maxicircle DNA. As seen previously, the majority of hybrids showed '2n' DNA contents, but with a significant number of '3n' and one '4n' offspring. In the natural vector, 97% of the nuclear loci showed both parental alleles; however, 3% (4/150) showed only one parental allele. In the unnatural vector, the frequency of uniparental inheritance rose to 10% (27/275). We attribute this to loss of heterozygosity after mating, most likely arising from aneuploidy which is both common and temporally variable in Leishmania. As seen previously, only uniparental inheritance of maxicircle kDNA was observed. Hybrids were recovered at similar efficiencies in all pairwise crosses tested, suggesting that L. major lacks detectable 'mating types' that limit free genetic exchange. In the natural vector, comparisons of the timing of hybrid formation with the presence of developmental stages suggest nectomonads as the most likely sexually competent stage, with hybrids emerging well before the first appearance of metacyclic promastigotes. These studies provide an important perspective on the prevalence of genetic exchange in natural populations of L. major and a guide for experimental studies to understand the biology of mating.
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