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Wang F, Xue Y, Pei Y, Yin M, Sun Z, Zhou Z, Liu J, Liu Q. Construction of luciferase-expressing Neospora caninum and drug screening. Parasit Vectors 2024; 17:118. [PMID: 38459572 PMCID: PMC10921786 DOI: 10.1186/s13071-024-06195-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/20/2023] [Accepted: 02/15/2024] [Indexed: 03/10/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Neospora caninum is an apicomplexan parasite that is particularly responsible for abortions in cattle and neuromuscular disease in dogs. Due to the limited effectiveness of currently available drugs, there is an urgent need for new therapeutic approaches to control neosporosis. Luciferase-based assays are potentially powerful tools in the search for antiprotozoal compounds, permitting the development of faster and more automated assays. The aim of this study was to construct a luciferase-expressing N. caninum and evaluate anti-N. caninum drugs. METHODS Luciferase-expressing N. caninum (Nc1-Luc) was constructed using clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)-associated protein 9 (CRISPR/Cas9). After testing the luciferase expression and phenotype of the Nc1-Luc strains, the drug sensitivity of Nc1-Luc strains was determined by treating them with known positive or negative drugs and calculating the half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50). The selective pan-rapidly accelerated fibrosarcoma (pan-RAF) inhibitor TAK-632 was then evaluated for anti-N. caninum effects using Nc1-Luc by luciferase activity reduction assay and other in vitro and in vivo studies. RESULTS The phenotypes and drug sensitivity of Nc1-Luc strains were consistent with those of the parental strains Nc1, and Nc1-Luc strains can be used to determine the IC50 for anti-N. caninum drugs. Using the Nc1-Luc strains, TAK-632 showed promising activity against N. caninum, with an IC50 of 0.6131 μM and a selectivity index (SI) of 62.53. In vitro studies demonstrated that TAK-632 inhibited the invasion, proliferation, and division of N. caninum tachyzoites. In vivo studies showed that TAK-632 attenuated the virulence of N. caninum in mice and significantly reduced the parasite burden in the brain. CONCLUSIONS In conclusion, a luciferase-expressing N. caninum strain was successfully constructed, which provides an effective tool for drug screening and related research on N. caninum. In addition, TAK-632 was found to inhibit the growth of N. caninum, which could be considered as a candidate lead compound for new therapeutics for neosporosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fei Wang
- National Animal Protozoa Laboratory, College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China
| | - Yangfei Xue
- National Animal Protozoa Laboratory, College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China
| | - Yanqun Pei
- National Animal Protozoa Laboratory, College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China
| | - Meng Yin
- National Animal Protozoa Laboratory, College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China
| | - Zhepeng Sun
- National Animal Protozoa Laboratory, College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China
| | - Zihui Zhou
- National Animal Protozoa Laboratory, College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China
| | - Jing Liu
- National Animal Protozoa Laboratory, College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China
- Key Laboratory of Animal Epidemiology of the Ministry of Agriculture, College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China
| | - Qun Liu
- National Animal Protozoa Laboratory, College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China.
- Key Laboratory of Animal Epidemiology of the Ministry of Agriculture, College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China.
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Tang Z, Xie S, Min P, Li H, Zhao F, Liu M, Jin W, Wang L, Zhao J, Jia L. Protective effect of Inonotus obliquus polysaccharide on mice infected with Neospora caninum. Int J Biol Macromol 2024; 261:129906. [PMID: 38309392 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2024.129906] [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] [Received: 07/27/2023] [Revised: 01/30/2024] [Accepted: 01/30/2024] [Indexed: 02/05/2024]
Abstract
The study aimed to explore the protective effects of Inonotus obliquus polysaccharide (IOP) on Neospora caninum (N. caninum) infection. Our data showed that the survival rate of the mice was the highest and the survival time was the longest when the IOP was 2 mg/10 g. In agreement with these observations, IOP alleviated the pathological damage in the various organs and tissues of the mice. Compared with that in the Neosporidium infection model group, the content of N. caninum in the heart, liver, spleen, lung, kidney and brain, determined through HE staining, was significantly lower. In addition, IOP inhibited the levels of immunoglobulin G1 (IgG1) and immunoglobulin G2 (IgG2a) from the 21st to 42nd day of the administration group, whereas the levels of interleukin-12 (IL-12) and serum tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) were down-regulated at 7 d - 42 d. The production of CD4+ T lymphocytes was promoted, the number of CD8+ T lymphocytes were significantly lower and the CD4+/CD8+ ratio was significantly elevated. Furthermore, IOP effectively balanced the levels of hormones including gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH), luteotropic hormone (LH) and testosterone (T) in male mice, and progesterone (PROG), estradiol (E2) and prolactin (PRL) in female mice. These findings demonstrate that IOP exerts protective effects against pathological damage caused by N. caninum infection in mice, and improve the immune function of the organism and regulate the secretion balance of sex hormones.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zeyu Tang
- Engineering Research Center of North-East Cold Region Beef Cattle Science & Technology Innovation, Ministry of Education, Yanbian University, No.977 Park Road, Yanji 133000, PR China
| | - Suzhu Xie
- Engineering Research Center of North-East Cold Region Beef Cattle Science & Technology Innovation, Ministry of Education, Yanbian University, No.977 Park Road, Yanji 133000, PR China
| | - Pengfei Min
- Engineering Research Center of North-East Cold Region Beef Cattle Science & Technology Innovation, Ministry of Education, Yanbian University, No.977 Park Road, Yanji 133000, PR China
| | - Hang Li
- Engineering Research Center of North-East Cold Region Beef Cattle Science & Technology Innovation, Ministry of Education, Yanbian University, No.977 Park Road, Yanji 133000, PR China; National Research Center for Protozoan Diseases, Obihiro University of Agriculture Veterinary Medicine, Inada-cho, Obihiro, Hokkaido 080-8555, Japan
| | - Fanglin Zhao
- Engineering Research Center of North-East Cold Region Beef Cattle Science & Technology Innovation, Ministry of Education, Yanbian University, No.977 Park Road, Yanji 133000, PR China
| | - Meng Liu
- Engineering Research Center of North-East Cold Region Beef Cattle Science & Technology Innovation, Ministry of Education, Yanbian University, No.977 Park Road, Yanji 133000, PR China
| | - Weidong Jin
- Engineering Research Center of North-East Cold Region Beef Cattle Science & Technology Innovation, Ministry of Education, Yanbian University, No.977 Park Road, Yanji 133000, PR China
| | - Longsheng Wang
- Engineering Research Center of North-East Cold Region Beef Cattle Science & Technology Innovation, Ministry of Education, Yanbian University, No.977 Park Road, Yanji 133000, PR China
| | - Jianhao Zhao
- Engineering Research Center of North-East Cold Region Beef Cattle Science & Technology Innovation, Ministry of Education, Yanbian University, No.977 Park Road, Yanji 133000, PR China
| | - Lijun Jia
- Engineering Research Center of North-East Cold Region Beef Cattle Science & Technology Innovation, Ministry of Education, Yanbian University, No.977 Park Road, Yanji 133000, PR China.
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Ying Z, Zhu Z, Yang X, Liu J, Liu Q. Prevalence and Associated Risk Factors of Neospora caninum Infection among Cattle in Mainland China: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. Prev Vet Med 2022; 201:105593. [DOI: 10.1016/j.prevetmed.2022.105593] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2021] [Revised: 01/31/2022] [Accepted: 02/04/2022] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
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Toxoplasma gondii UBL-UBA Shuttle Protein DSK2s Are Important for Parasite Intracellular Replication. Int J Mol Sci 2021; 22:ijms22157943. [PMID: 34360709 PMCID: PMC8348199 DOI: 10.3390/ijms22157943] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/14/2021] [Revised: 07/14/2021] [Accepted: 07/21/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) is an important human and veterinary pathogen causing life-threatening disease in immunocompromised patients. The UBL-UBA shuttle protein family are important components of the ubiquitin–proteasome system. Here, we identified a novel UBL-UBA shuttle protein DSK2b that is charactered by an N-terminal ubiquitin-like domain (UBL) and a C-terminal ubiquitin-associated domain (UBA). DSK2b was localized in the cytoplasm and nucleus. The deletion of dsk2b did not affect the degradation of ubiquitinated proteins, parasite growth in vitro or virulence in mice. The double-gene knockout of dsk2b and its paralogs dsk2a (ΔΔdsk2adsk2b) results in a significant accumulation of ubiquitinated proteins and the asynchronous division of T. gondii. The growth of ΔΔdsk2adsk2b was significantly inhibited in vitro, while virulence in mice was not attenuated. In addition, autophagy occurred in the ΔΔdsk2adsk2b, which was speculated to degrade the accumulated ubiquitinated proteins in the parasites. Overall, DSK2b is a novel UBL-UBA shuttle protein contributing to the degradation of ubiquitinated proteins and is important for the synchronous cell division of T. gondii.
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Zhang H, Liu J, Ying Z, Li S, Wu Y, Liu Q. Toxoplasma gondii UBL-UBA shuttle proteins contribute to the degradation of ubiquitinylated proteins and are important for synchronous cell division and virulence. FASEB J 2020; 34:13711-13725. [PMID: 32808330 DOI: 10.1096/fj.202000759rr] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2020] [Revised: 07/27/2020] [Accepted: 07/31/2020] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
Toxoplasma gondii is an obligate intracellular apicomplexan parasite that causes lethal diseases in immunocompromised patients. Ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS) regulates many cellular processes by degrading ubiquitinylated proteins. The UBL-UBA shuttle protein family, which escorts the ubiquitinylated proteins to the proteasome for degradation, are crucial components of UPS. Here, we identified three UBL-UBA shuttle proteins (TGGT1_304680, DNA damage inducible protein 1, DDI1; TGGT1_295340, UV excision repair protein rad23 protein, RAD23; and TGGT1_223680, ubiquitin family protein, DSK2) localized in the cytoplasm and nucleus of T gondii. Deletion of shuttle proteins inhibited parasites growth and resulted in accumulation of ubiquitinylated proteins. Cell division of triple-gene knockout strain was asynchronous. In addition, we found that the retroviral aspartic protease activity of the nonclassical shuttle protein DDI1 was important for the virulence of Toxoplasma in mice. These results showed the critical roles of UBL-UBA shuttle proteins in regulating the degradation of ubiquitinylated proteins and cell division of T gondii.
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Affiliation(s)
- Heng Zhang
- National Animal Protozoa Laboratory, College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China.,Key Laboratory of Animal Epidemiology of the Ministry of Agriculture, College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China
| | - Jing Liu
- National Animal Protozoa Laboratory, College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China.,Key Laboratory of Animal Epidemiology of the Ministry of Agriculture, College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China
| | - Zhu Ying
- National Animal Protozoa Laboratory, College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China.,Key Laboratory of Animal Epidemiology of the Ministry of Agriculture, College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China
| | - Shuang Li
- National Animal Protozoa Laboratory, College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China.,Key Laboratory of Animal Epidemiology of the Ministry of Agriculture, College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China
| | - Yihan Wu
- National Animal Protozoa Laboratory, College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China.,Key Laboratory of Animal Epidemiology of the Ministry of Agriculture, College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China
| | - Qun Liu
- National Animal Protozoa Laboratory, College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China.,Key Laboratory of Animal Epidemiology of the Ministry of Agriculture, College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China
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