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Sá M, Costa DM, Tavares J. Imaging Infection by Vector-Borne Protozoan Parasites Using Whole-Mouse Bioluminescence. Methods Mol Biol 2022; 2524:353-367. [PMID: 35821487 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-0716-2453-1_29] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Vector-borne protozoan parasites such as Plasmodium spp. Leishmania spp. and Trypanosoma brucei are responsible for several serious diseases. Significant advances in parasitology have been made using rodent models combined with live imaging techniques, including whole-mouse bioluminescence imaging (BLI). This technique has been applied to investigate parasite dissemination, infectivity, and growth. It has also been used in drug and vaccine testing. This chapter focuses on the methods that utilize whole-mouse BLI to (i) evaluate the homing and infectivity of Plasmodium berghei sporozoites; (ii) conduct in vivo testing of promising chemical entities against Leishmania infantum infection; and (iii) study molecular mechanisms of host susceptibility to Trypanosoma brucei brucei infection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mónica Sá
- Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde and Instituto de Biologia Molecular e Celular, Host-Parasite Interactions Group, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal
| | - David Mendes Costa
- Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde and Instituto de Biologia Molecular e Celular, Host-Parasite Interactions Group, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal
| | - Joana Tavares
- Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde and Instituto de Biologia Molecular e Celular, Host-Parasite Interactions Group, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal.
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Vandermosten L, Pham TT, Possemiers H, Knoops S, Van Herck E, Deckers J, Franke-Fayard B, Lamb TJ, Janse CJ, Opdenakker G, Van den Steen PE. Experimental malaria-associated acute respiratory distress syndrome is dependent on the parasite-host combination and coincides with normocyte invasion. Malar J 2018; 17:102. [PMID: 29506544 PMCID: PMC5839036 DOI: 10.1186/s12936-018-2251-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/28/2017] [Accepted: 02/27/2018] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Malaria-associated acute respiratory distress syndrome (MA-ARDS) is a complication of malaria with a lethality rate of up to 80% despite anti-malarial treatment. It is characterized by a vast infiltration of leukocytes, microhaemorrhages and vasogenic oedema in the lungs. Previously, a mouse model for MA-ARDS was developed by infection of C57BL/6 mice with the Edinburgh line NK65-E of Plasmodium berghei. Results Here, both host and parasite factors were demonstrated to play crucial roles in the development and severity of lung pathology. In particular, the genetic constitution of the host was an important determinant in the development of MA-ARDS. Both male and female C57BL/6, but not BALB/c, mice developed MA-ARDS when infected with P. berghei NK65-E. However, the New York line of P. berghei NK65 (NK65-NY) did not induce demonstrable MA-ARDS, despite its accumulation in the lungs and fat tissue to a similar or even higher extent as P. berghei NK65-E. These two commonly used lines of P. berghei differ in their red blood cell preference. P. berghei NK65-NY showed a stronger predilection for reticulocytes than P. berghei NK65-E and this appeared to be associated with a lower pathogenicity in the lungs. The pulmonary pathology in the C57BL/6/P. berghei NK65-E model was more pronounced than in the model with infection of DBA/2 mice with P. berghei strain ANKA. The transient lung pathology in DBA/2 mice infected with P. berghei ANKA coincided with the infection phase in which parasites mainly infected normocytes. This phase was followed by a less pathogenic phase in which P. berghei ANKA mainly infected reticulocytes. Conclusions The propensity of mice to develop MA-ARDS during P. berghei infection depends on both host and parasite factors and appears to correlate with RBC preference. These data provide insights in induction of MA-ARDS and may guide the choice of different mouse-parasite combinations to study lung pathology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leen Vandermosten
- Laboratory of Immunobiology, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Rega Institute for Medical Research, KU Leuven-University of Leuven, Herestraat 49, box 1044, 3000, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Thao-Thy Pham
- Laboratory of Immunobiology, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Rega Institute for Medical Research, KU Leuven-University of Leuven, Herestraat 49, box 1044, 3000, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Hendrik Possemiers
- Laboratory of Immunobiology, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Rega Institute for Medical Research, KU Leuven-University of Leuven, Herestraat 49, box 1044, 3000, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Sofie Knoops
- Laboratory of Immunobiology, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Rega Institute for Medical Research, KU Leuven-University of Leuven, Herestraat 49, box 1044, 3000, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Evelien Van Herck
- Laboratory of Immunobiology, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Rega Institute for Medical Research, KU Leuven-University of Leuven, Herestraat 49, box 1044, 3000, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Julie Deckers
- Laboratory of Immunobiology, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Rega Institute for Medical Research, KU Leuven-University of Leuven, Herestraat 49, box 1044, 3000, Leuven, Belgium.,Laboratory of Immunoregulation, VIB Center for Inflammation Research, Department of Internal Medicine, Ghent University, Technologiepark 927, 9052, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Blandine Franke-Fayard
- Leiden Malaria Research Group, Department of Parasitology, Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC), Albinusdreef 2, 2333 ZA, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Tracey J Lamb
- Department of Pathology, University of Utah, 15 N Medical Drive E, Salt Lake City, UT, 84112, USA
| | - Chris J Janse
- Leiden Malaria Research Group, Department of Parasitology, Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC), Albinusdreef 2, 2333 ZA, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Ghislain Opdenakker
- Laboratory of Immunobiology, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Rega Institute for Medical Research, KU Leuven-University of Leuven, Herestraat 49, box 1044, 3000, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Philippe E Van den Steen
- Laboratory of Immunobiology, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Rega Institute for Medical Research, KU Leuven-University of Leuven, Herestraat 49, box 1044, 3000, Leuven, Belgium.
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Avci P, Karimi M, Sadasivam M, Antunes-Melo WC, Carrasco E, Hamblin MR. In-vivo monitoring of infectious diseases in living animals using bioluminescence imaging. Virulence 2017; 9:28-63. [PMID: 28960132 PMCID: PMC6067836 DOI: 10.1080/21505594.2017.1371897] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Traditional methods of localizing and quantifying the presence of pathogenic microorganisms in living experimental animal models of infections have mostly relied on sacrificing the animals, dissociating the tissue and counting the number of colony forming units. However, the discovery of several varieties of the light producing enzyme, luciferase, and the genetic engineering of bacteria, fungi, parasites and mice to make them emit light, either after administration of the luciferase substrate, or in the case of the bacterial lux operon without any exogenous substrate, has provided a new alternative. Dedicated bioluminescence imaging (BLI) cameras can record the light emitted from living animals in real time allowing non-invasive, longitudinal monitoring of the anatomical location and growth of infectious microorganisms as measured by strength of the BLI signal. BLI technology has been used to follow bacterial infections in traumatic skin wounds and burns, osteomyelitis, infections in intestines, Mycobacterial infections, otitis media, lung infections, biofilm and endodontic infections and meningitis. Fungi that have been engineered to be bioluminescent have been used to study infections caused by yeasts (Candida) and by filamentous fungi. Parasitic infections caused by malaria, Leishmania, trypanosomes and toxoplasma have all been monitored by BLI. Viruses such as vaccinia, herpes simplex, hepatitis B and C and influenza, have been studied using BLI. This rapidly growing technology is expected to continue to provide much useful information, while drastically reducing the numbers of animals needed in experimental studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pinar Avci
- a Wellman Center for Photomedicine, Massachusetts General Hospital , Boston , MA , USA.,b Department of Dermatology , Harvard Medical School , Boston , MA , USA
| | - Mahdi Karimi
- a Wellman Center for Photomedicine, Massachusetts General Hospital , Boston , MA , USA.,c Department of Medical Nanotechnology , School of Advanced Technologies in Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences , Tehran , Iran.,d Cellular and Molecular Research Center, Iran University of Medical Sciences , Tehran , Iran
| | - Magesh Sadasivam
- a Wellman Center for Photomedicine, Massachusetts General Hospital , Boston , MA , USA.,e Amity Institute of Nanotechnology, Amity University Uttar Pradesh , Noida , India
| | - Wanessa C Antunes-Melo
- a Wellman Center for Photomedicine, Massachusetts General Hospital , Boston , MA , USA.,f University of Sao Paulo , Sao Carlos-SP , Brazil
| | - Elisa Carrasco
- a Wellman Center for Photomedicine, Massachusetts General Hospital , Boston , MA , USA.,g Department of Biosciences , Durham University , Durham , United Kingdom
| | - Michael R Hamblin
- a Wellman Center for Photomedicine, Massachusetts General Hospital , Boston , MA , USA.,b Department of Dermatology , Harvard Medical School , Boston , MA , USA.,h Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology , Cambridge , MA , USA
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Siciliano G, Alano P. Enlightening the malaria parasite life cycle: bioluminescent Plasmodium in fundamental and applied research. Front Microbiol 2015; 6:391. [PMID: 26029172 PMCID: PMC4426725 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2015.00391] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/20/2015] [Accepted: 04/16/2015] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
The unicellular protozoan parasites of the genus Plasmodium impose on human health worldwide the enormous burden of malaria. The possibility to genetically modify several species of malaria parasites represented a major advance in the possibility to elucidate their biology and is now turning laboratory lines of transgenic Plasmodium into precious weapons to fight malaria. Amongst the various genetically modified plasmodia, transgenic parasite lines expressing bioluminescent reporters have been essential to unveil mechanisms of parasite gene expression and to develop in vivo imaging approaches in mouse malaria models. Mainly the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum and the rodent parasite P. berghei have been engineered to express bioluminescent reporters in almost all the developmental stages of the parasite along its complex life cycle between the insect and the vertebrate hosts. Plasmodium lines expressing conventional and improved luciferase reporters are now gaining a central role to develop cell based assays in the much needed search of new antimalarial drugs and to open innovative approaches for both fundamental and applied research in malaria.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Pietro Alano
- Dipartimento di Malattie Infettive, Parassitarie ed Immunomediate, Istituto Superiore di SanitàRome, Italy
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Frevert U, Nacer A. Immunobiology of Plasmodium in liver and brain. Parasite Immunol 2014; 35:267-82. [PMID: 23631610 DOI: 10.1111/pim.12039] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/13/2013] [Accepted: 04/17/2013] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Malaria remains one of the most serious health problems globally, but our understanding of the biology of the parasite and the pathogenesis of severe disease is still limited. Multiple cellular effector mechanisms that mediate parasite elimination from the liver have been described, but how effector cells use classical granule-mediated cytotoxicity to attack infected hepatocytes and how cytokines and chemokines spread via the unique fluid pathways of the liver to reach the parasites over considerable distances remains unknown. Similarly, a wealth of information on cerebral malaria (CM), one of the most severe manifestations of the disease, was gained from post-mortem analyses of human brain and murine disease models, but the cellular processes that ultimately cause disease are not fully understood. Here, we discuss how imaging of the local dynamics of parasite infection and host response as well as consideration of anatomical and physiological features of liver and brain can provide a better understanding of the initial asymptomatic hepatic phase of the infection and the cascade of events leading to CM. Given the increasing drug resistance of both parasite and vector and the unavailability of a protective vaccine, the urgency to reduce the tremendous morbidity and mortality associated with severe malaria is obvious.
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Affiliation(s)
- U Frevert
- Division of Medical Parasitology, Department of Microbiology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY 10010, USA.
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Frevert U, Nacer A, Cabrera M, Movila A, Leberl M. Imaging Plasmodium immunobiology in the liver, brain, and lung. Parasitol Int 2013; 63:171-86. [PMID: 24076429 DOI: 10.1016/j.parint.2013.09.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/31/2012] [Revised: 08/28/2013] [Accepted: 09/18/2013] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Abstract
Plasmodium falciparum malaria is responsible for the deaths of over half a million African children annually. Until a decade ago, dynamic analysis of the malaria parasite was limited to in vitro systems with the typical limitations associated with 2D monocultures or entirely artificial surfaces. Due to extremely low parasite densities, the liver was considered a black box in terms of Plasmodium sporozoite invasion, liver stage development, and merozoite release into the blood. Further, nothing was known about the behavior of blood stage parasites in organs such as the brain where clinical signs manifest and the ensuing immune response of the host that may ultimately result in a fatal outcome. The advent of fluorescent parasites, advances in imaging technology, and availability of an ever-increasing number of cellular and molecular probes have helped illuminate many steps along the pathogenetic cascade of this deadly tropical parasite.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ute Frevert
- Division of Medical Parasitology, Department of Microbiology, New York University School of Medicine, 341 E 25 Street, New York, NY 10010, USA.
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