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Otesteanu CF, Caldelari R, Heussler V, Sznitman R. Machine learning for predicting Plasmodium liver stage development in vitro using microscopy imaging. Comput Struct Biotechnol J 2024; 24:334-342. [PMID: 38690550 PMCID: PMC11059334 DOI: 10.1016/j.csbj.2024.04.029] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/08/2023] [Revised: 04/09/2024] [Accepted: 04/10/2024] [Indexed: 05/02/2024] Open
Abstract
Malaria, a significant global health challenge, is caused by Plasmodium parasites. The Plasmodium liver stage plays a pivotal role in the establishment of the infection. This study focuses on the liver stage development of the model organism Plasmodium berghei, employing fluorescent microscopy imaging and convolutional neural networks (CNNs) for analysis. Convolutional neural networks have been recently proposed as a viable option for tasks such as malaria detection, prediction of host-pathogen interactions, or drug discovery. Our research aimed to predict the transition of Plasmodium-infected liver cells to the merozoite stage, a key development phase, 15 hours in advance. We collected and analyzed hourly imaging data over a span of at least 38 hours from 400 sequences, encompassing 502 parasites. Our method was compared to human annotations to validate its efficacy. Performance metrics, including the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC), sensitivity, and specificity, were evaluated on an independent test dataset. The outcomes revealed an AUC of 0.873, a sensitivity of 84.6%, and a specificity of 83.3%, underscoring the potential of our CNN-based framework to predict liver stage development of P. berghei. These findings not only demonstrate the feasibility of our methodology but also could potentially contribute to the broader understanding of parasite biology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Corin F. Otesteanu
- Artificial Intelligence in Medicine group, University of Bern, Switzerland
| | - Reto Caldelari
- Institute of Cell Biology, University of Bern, Switzerland
| | | | - Raphael Sznitman
- Artificial Intelligence in Medicine group, University of Bern, Switzerland
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2
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Wang LT, Idris AH, Kisalu NK, Crompton PD, Seder RA. Monoclonal antibodies to the circumsporozoite proteins as an emerging tool for malaria prevention. Nat Immunol 2024; 25:1530-1545. [PMID: 39198635 DOI: 10.1038/s41590-024-01938-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/06/2024] [Accepted: 07/17/2024] [Indexed: 09/01/2024]
Abstract
Despite various public health strategies, malaria caused by Plasmodium falciparum parasites remains a major global health challenge that requires development of new interventions. Extended half-life human monoclonal antibodies targeting the P. falciparum circumsporozoite protein on sporozoites, the infective form of malaria parasites, prevent malaria in rodents and humans and have been advanced into clinical development. The protective epitopes on the circumsporozoite protein targeted by monoclonal antibodies have been defined. Cryogenic electron and multiphoton microscopy have enabled mechanistic structural and functional investigations of how antibodies bind to the circumsporozoite protein and neutralize sporozoites. Moreover, innovations in bioinformatics and antibody engineering have facilitated enhancement of antibody potency and durability. Here, we summarize the latest scientific advances in understanding how monoclonal antibodies to the circumsporozoite protein prevent malaria and highlight existing clinical data and future plans for how this emerging intervention can be used alone or alongside existing antimalarial interventions to control malaria across at-risk populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lawrence T Wang
- Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
- Department of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | - Azza H Idris
- Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
- The Ragon Institute of Massachusetts General Hospital, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA.
| | - Neville K Kisalu
- Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
- PATH's Center for Vaccine Innovation and Access, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Peter D Crompton
- Malaria Infection Biology and Immunity Section, Laboratory of Immunogenetics, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Rockville, MD, USA
| | - Robert A Seder
- Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
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3
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McConville R, Krol JMM, Steel RWJ, O’Neill MT, Davey BK, Hodder AN, Nebl T, Cowman AF, Kneteman N, Boddey JA. Flp/ FRT-mediated disruption of ptex150 and exp2 in Plasmodium falciparum sporozoites inhibits liver-stage development. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2024; 121:e2403442121. [PMID: 38968107 PMCID: PMC11252984 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2403442121] [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: 02/19/2024] [Accepted: 05/31/2024] [Indexed: 07/07/2024] Open
Abstract
Plasmodium falciparum causes severe malaria and assembles a protein translocon (PTEX) complex at the parasitophorous vacuole membrane (PVM) of infected erythrocytes, through which several hundred proteins are exported to facilitate growth. The preceding liver stage of infection involves growth in a hepatocyte-derived PVM; however, the importance of protein export during P. falciparum liver infection remains unexplored. Here, we use the FlpL/FRT system to conditionally excise genes in P. falciparum sporozoites for functional liver-stage studies. Disruption of PTEX members ptex150 and exp2 did not affect sporozoite development in mosquitoes or infectivity for hepatocytes but attenuated liver-stage growth in humanized mice. While PTEX150 deficiency reduced fitness on day 6 postinfection by 40%, EXP2 deficiency caused 100% loss of liver parasites, demonstrating that PTEX components are required for growth in hepatocytes to differing degrees. To characterize PTEX loss-of-function mutations, we localized four liver-stage Plasmodium export element (PEXEL) proteins. P. falciparum liver specific protein 2 (LISP2), liver-stage antigen 3 (LSA3), circumsporozoite protein (CSP), and a Plasmodium berghei LISP2 reporter all localized to the periphery of P. falciparum liver stages but were not exported beyond the PVM. Expression of LISP2 and CSP but not LSA3 was reduced in ptex150-FRT and exp2-FRT liver stages, suggesting that expression of some PEXEL proteins is affected directly or indirectly by PTEX disruption. These results show that PTEX150 and EXP2 are important for P. falciparum development in hepatocytes and emphasize the emerging complexity of PEXEL protein trafficking.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robyn McConville
- Division of Infectious Diseases & Immune Defence, The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Parkville, VIC3052, Australia
- Department of Medical Biology, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC3010, Australia
| | - Jelte M. M. Krol
- Division of Infectious Diseases & Immune Defence, The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Parkville, VIC3052, Australia
- Department of Medical Biology, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC3010, Australia
| | - Ryan W. J. Steel
- Division of Infectious Diseases & Immune Defence, The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Parkville, VIC3052, Australia
- Department of Medical Biology, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC3010, Australia
| | - Matthew T. O’Neill
- Division of Infectious Diseases & Immune Defence, The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Parkville, VIC3052, Australia
| | - Bethany K. Davey
- Division of Infectious Diseases & Immune Defence, The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Parkville, VIC3052, Australia
- Department of Medical Biology, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC3010, Australia
| | - Anthony N. Hodder
- Division of Infectious Diseases & Immune Defence, The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Parkville, VIC3052, Australia
- Department of Medical Biology, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC3010, Australia
| | - Thomas Nebl
- Division of Infectious Diseases & Immune Defence, The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Parkville, VIC3052, Australia
- Department of Medical Biology, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC3010, Australia
| | - Alan F. Cowman
- Division of Infectious Diseases & Immune Defence, The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Parkville, VIC3052, Australia
- Department of Medical Biology, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC3010, Australia
| | - Norman Kneteman
- Departments of Surgery, University of Alberta, Edmonton, ABT6G 2E1, Canada
| | - Justin A. Boddey
- Division of Infectious Diseases & Immune Defence, The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Parkville, VIC3052, Australia
- Department of Medical Biology, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC3010, Australia
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4
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Shrikondawar AN, Chennoju K, Ghosh DK, Ranjan A. Identification and characterization of nuclear localization signals in the circumsporozoite protein of Plasmodium falciparum. FEBS Lett 2024; 598:801-817. [PMID: 38369616 DOI: 10.1002/1873-3468.14829] [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: 11/09/2023] [Revised: 12/30/2023] [Accepted: 01/15/2024] [Indexed: 02/20/2024]
Abstract
Secretory proteins of Plasmodium exhibit differential spatial and functional activity within the host cell nucleus. However, the nuclear localization signals (NLSs) for these proteins remain largely uncharacterized. In this study, we have identified and characterized two NLSs in the circumsporozoite protein of Plasmodium falciparum (Pf-CSP). Both NLSs in the Pf-CSP contain clusters of lysine and arginine residues essential for specific interactions with the conserved tryptophan and asparagine residues of importin-α, facilitating nuclear translocation of Pf-CSP. While the two NLSs of Pf-CSP function independently and are both crucial for nuclear localization, a single NLS of Pf-CSP leads to weak nuclear localization. These findings shed light on the mechanism of nuclear penetrability of secretory proteins of Plasmodium proteins.
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Affiliation(s)
- Akshaykumar Nanaji Shrikondawar
- Computational and Functional Genomics Group, Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics, Hyderabad, India
- Graduate Studies, Regional Centre for Biotechnology, Faridabad, India
| | - Kiranmai Chennoju
- Computational and Functional Genomics Group, Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics, Hyderabad, India
- Graduate Studies, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, India
| | | | - Akash Ranjan
- Computational and Functional Genomics Group, Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics, Hyderabad, India
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5
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Zhu C, Jiao S, Xu W. CD8 + Trms against malaria liver-stage: prospects and challenges. Front Immunol 2024; 15:1344941. [PMID: 38318178 PMCID: PMC10839007 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2024.1344941] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/27/2023] [Accepted: 01/08/2024] [Indexed: 02/07/2024] Open
Abstract
Attenuated sporozoites provide a valuable model for exploring protective immunity against the malarial liver stage, guiding the design of highly efficient vaccines to prevent malaria infection. Liver tissue-resident CD8+ T cells (CD8+ Trm cells) are considered the host front-line defense against malaria and are crucial to developing prime-trap/target strategies for pre-erythrocytic stage vaccine immunization. However, the spatiotemporal regulatory mechanism of the generation of liver CD8+ Trm cells and their responses to sporozoite challenge, as well as the protective antigens they recognize remain largely unknown. Here, we discuss the knowledge gap regarding liver CD8+ Trm cell formation and the potential strategies to identify predominant protective antigens expressed in the exoerythrocytic stage, which is essential for high-efficacy malaria subunit pre-erythrocytic vaccine designation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chengyu Zhu
- The School of Medicine, Chongqing University, Chongqing, China
- Department of Pathogenic Biology, Army Medical University (Third Military Medical University), Chongqing, China
| | - Shiming Jiao
- Department of Pathogenic Biology, Army Medical University (Third Military Medical University), Chongqing, China
| | - Wenyue Xu
- The School of Medicine, Chongqing University, Chongqing, China
- Department of Pathogenic Biology, Army Medical University (Third Military Medical University), Chongqing, China
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6
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Geens R, Stanisich J, Beyens O, D'Hondt S, Thiberge J, Ryckebosch A, De Groot A, Magez S, Vertommen D, Amino R, De Winter H, Volkov AN, Tompa P, Sterckx YG. Biophysical characterization of the Plasmodium falciparum circumsporozoite protein's N-terminal domain. Protein Sci 2024; 33:e4852. [PMID: 38059674 PMCID: PMC10749493 DOI: 10.1002/pro.4852] [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: 04/26/2023] [Revised: 11/28/2023] [Accepted: 12/04/2023] [Indexed: 12/08/2023]
Abstract
The circumsporozoite protein (CSP) is the main surface antigen of the Plasmodium sporozoite (SPZ) and forms the basis of the currently only licensed anti-malarial vaccine (RTS,S/AS01). CSP uniformly coats the SPZ and plays a pivotal role in its immunobiology, in both the insect and the vertebrate hosts. Although CSP's N-terminal domain (CSPN ) has been reported to play an important role in multiple CSP functions, a thorough biophysical and structural characterization of CSPN is currently lacking. Here, we present an alternative method for the recombinant production and purification of CSPN from Plasmodium falciparum (PfCSPN ), which provides pure, high-quality protein preparations with high yields. Through an interdisciplinary approach combining in-solution experimental methods and in silico analyses, we provide strong evidence that PfCSPN is an intrinsically disordered region displaying some degree of compaction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rob Geens
- Laboratory of Medical Biochemistry (LMB)University of AntwerpAntwerpBelgium
- Structural Biology BrusselsVrije Universiteit BrusselBrusselsBelgium
| | - Jessica Stanisich
- Cellular and Molecular ImmunologyVrije Universiteit BrusselBrusselsBelgium
| | - Olivier Beyens
- Laboratory of Medicinal Chemistry (UAMC)University of AntwerpAntwerpBelgium
| | - Stijn D'Hondt
- Laboratory of Medicinal Chemistry (UAMC)University of AntwerpAntwerpBelgium
| | | | - Amber Ryckebosch
- Laboratory of Medical Biochemistry (LMB)University of AntwerpAntwerpBelgium
| | - Anke De Groot
- Laboratory of Medical Biochemistry (LMB)University of AntwerpAntwerpBelgium
| | - Stefan Magez
- Cellular and Molecular ImmunologyVrije Universiteit BrusselBrusselsBelgium
- Ghent University Global CampusIncheonSouth Korea
| | - Didier Vertommen
- de Duve Institute and MASSPROT Platform, UCLouvainBrusselsBelgium
| | - Rogerio Amino
- Unit of Malaria Infection & ImmunityInstitut PasteurParisFrance
| | - Hans De Winter
- Laboratory of Medicinal Chemistry (UAMC)University of AntwerpAntwerpBelgium
| | - Alexander N. Volkov
- Structural Biology BrusselsVrije Universiteit BrusselBrusselsBelgium
- VIB‐VUB Center for Structural BiologyVlaams Instituut voor Biotechnologie (VIB)BrusselsBelgium
- Jean Jeener NMR CentreVrije Universiteit BrusselBrusselsBelgium
| | - Peter Tompa
- Structural Biology BrusselsVrije Universiteit BrusselBrusselsBelgium
- VIB‐VUB Center for Structural BiologyVlaams Instituut voor Biotechnologie (VIB)BrusselsBelgium
- Institute of Enzymology, Biological Research CenterHungarian Academy of SciencesBudapestHungary
| | - Yann G.‐J. Sterckx
- Laboratory of Medical Biochemistry (LMB)University of AntwerpAntwerpBelgium
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7
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Li H, Yang S, Zeng K, Guo J, Wu J, Jiang H, Xie Y, Hu Z, Lu J, Yang J, Su XZ, Cui J, Yu X. SHIP1 modulates antimalarial immunity by bridging the crosstalk between type I IFN signaling and autophagy. mBio 2023; 14:e0351222. [PMID: 37366613 PMCID: PMC10470592 DOI: 10.1128/mbio.03512-22] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2022] [Accepted: 04/24/2023] [Indexed: 06/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Stringent control of the type I interferon (IFN-I) signaling is critical for host immune defense against infectious diseases, yet the molecular mechanisms that regulate this pathway remain elusive. Here, we show that Src homology 2 containing inositol phosphatase 1 (SHIP1) suppresses IFN-I signaling by promoting IRF3 degradation during malaria infection. Genetic ablation of Ship1 in mice leads to high levels of IFN-I and confers resistance to Plasmodium yoelii nigeriensis (P.y.) N67 infection. Mechanistically, SHIP1 promotes the selective autophagic degradation of IRF3 by enhancing K63-linked ubiquitination of IRF3 at lysine 313, which serves as a recognition signal for NDP52-mediated selective autophagic degradation. In addition, SHIP1 is downregulated by IFN-I-induced miR-155-5p upon P.y. N67 infection and severs as a feedback loop of the signaling crosstalk. This study reveals a regulatory mechanism between IFN-I signaling and autophagy, and verifies SHIP1 can be a potential target for therapeutic intervention against malaria and other infectious diseases. IMPORTANCE Malaria remains a serious disease affecting millions of people worldwide. Malaria parasite infection triggers tightly controlled type I interferon (IFN-I) signaling that plays a critical role in host innate immunity; however, the molecular mechanisms underlying the immune responses are still elusive. Here, we discover a host gene [Src homology 2-containing inositol phosphatase 1 (SHIP1)] that can regulate IFN-I signaling by modulating NDP52-mediated selective autophagic degradation of IRF3 and significantly affect parasitemia and resistance of Plasmodium-infected mice. This study identifies SHIP1 as a potential target for immunotherapies in malaria and highlights the crosstalk between IFN-I signaling and autophagy in preventing related infectious diseases. SHIP1 functions as a negative regulator during malaria infection by targeting IRF3 for autophagic degradation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hongyu Li
- Department of Immunology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
| | - Shuai Yang
- Guangdong Province Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Functional Genes, MOE Key Laboratory of Gene Function and Regulation, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
| | - Ke Zeng
- Department of Immunology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
| | - Jiayin Guo
- Department of Immunology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
| | - Jian Wu
- Malaria Functional Genomics Section, Laboratory of Malaria and Vector Research, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Huaji Jiang
- Department of Immunology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
- Yue Bei People's Hospital Postdoctoral Innovation Practice Base, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
| | - Yingchao Xie
- Department of Immunology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
| | - Zhiqiang Hu
- Department of Immunology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
| | - Jiansen Lu
- Department of Immunology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
- Department of Joint Surgery, the Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
| | - Jianwu Yang
- Department of Immunology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
| | - Xin-zhuan Su
- Malaria Functional Genomics Section, Laboratory of Malaria and Vector Research, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Jun Cui
- Guangdong Province Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Functional Genes, MOE Key Laboratory of Gene Function and Regulation, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
| | - Xiao Yu
- Department of Immunology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
- Guangdong Provincial Key Lab of Single Cell Technology and Application, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
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8
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Bhattacharjee S, Ghosh D, Saha R, Sarkar R, Kumar S, Khokhar M, Pandey RK. Mechanism of Immune Evasion in Mosquito-Borne Diseases. Pathogens 2023; 12:pathogens12050635. [PMID: 37242305 DOI: 10.3390/pathogens12050635] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/28/2023] [Revised: 04/20/2023] [Accepted: 04/21/2023] [Indexed: 05/28/2023] Open
Abstract
In recent decades, mosquito-borne illnesses have emerged as a major health burden in many tropical regions. These diseases, such as malaria, dengue fever, chikungunya, yellow fever, Zika virus infection, Rift Valley fever, Japanese encephalitis, and West Nile virus infection, are transmitted through the bite of infected mosquitoes. These pathogens have been shown to interfere with the host's immune system through adaptive and innate immune mechanisms, as well as the human circulatory system. Crucial immune checkpoints such as antigen presentation, T cell activation, differentiation, and proinflammatory response play a vital role in the host cell's response to pathogenic infection. Furthermore, these immune evasions have the potential to stimulate the human immune system, resulting in other associated non-communicable diseases. This review aims to advance our understanding of mosquito-borne diseases and the immune evasion mechanisms by associated pathogens. Moreover, it highlights the adverse outcomes of mosquito-borne disease.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Debanjan Ghosh
- Department of Biotechnology, Pondicherry University, Puducherry 605014, India
| | - Rounak Saha
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Pondicherry University, Puducherry 605014, India
| | - Rima Sarkar
- DBT Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology, Thiruvananthapuram 695014, India
| | - Saurav Kumar
- DBT Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology, Thiruvananthapuram 695014, India
| | - Manoj Khokhar
- Department of Biochemistry, AIIMS, Jodhpur 342005, India
| | - Rajan Kumar Pandey
- Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics, Karolinska Institute, 171 77 Solna, Sweden
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9
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Belhimeur S, Briquet S, Peronet R, Pham J, Commere PH, Formaglio P, Amino R, Scherf A, Silvie O, Mecheri S. Plasmodium-encoded murine IL-6 impairs liver stage infection and elicits long-lasting sterilizing immunity. Front Immunol 2023; 14:1143012. [PMID: 37143657 PMCID: PMC10152192 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2023.1143012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/12/2023] [Accepted: 03/27/2023] [Indexed: 05/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction Plasmodium sporozoites (SPZ) inoculated by Anopheles mosquitoes into the skin of the mammalian host migrate to the liver before infecting hepatocytes. Previous work demonstrated that early production of IL-6 in the liver is detrimental for the parasite growth, contributing to the acquisition of a long-lasting immune protection after immunization with live attenuated parasites. Methods Considering that IL-6 as a critical pro-inflammatory signal, we explored a novel approach whereby the parasite itself encodes for the murine IL-6 gene. We generated transgenic P. berghei parasites that express murine IL-6 during liver stage development. Results and Discussion Though IL-6 transgenic SPZ developed into exo-erythrocytic forms in hepatocytes in vitro and in vivo, these parasites were not capable of inducing a blood stage infection in mice. Furthermore, immunization of mice with transgenic IL-6-expressing P. berghei SPZ elicited a long-lasting CD8+ T cell-mediated protective immunity against a subsequent infectious SPZ challenge. Collectively, this study demonstrates that parasite-encoded IL-6 attenuates parasite virulence with abortive liver stage of Plasmodium infection, forming the basis of a novel suicide vaccine strategy to elicit protective antimalarial immunity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Selma Belhimeur
- Institut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, CNRS ERL9195 and Inserm U1201, Unité de Biologie des Interactions Hôte Parasites, Paris, France
| | - Sylvie Briquet
- Sorbonne Université, Inserm U1135, CNRS ERL 8255, Paris, France
| | - Roger Peronet
- Institut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, CNRS ERL9195 and Inserm U1201, Unité de Biologie des Interactions Hôte Parasites, Paris, France
| | - Jennifer Pham
- Institut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, Centre d’élevage et de production des anophèles (CEPIA), Paris, France
| | | | - Pauline Formaglio
- Institut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, Malaria Infection and Immunity Unit, Paris, France
| | - Rogerio Amino
- Institut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, Malaria Infection and Immunity Unit, Paris, France
| | - Artur Scherf
- Institut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, CNRS ERL9195 and Inserm U1201, Unité de Biologie des Interactions Hôte Parasites, Paris, France
| | - Olivier Silvie
- Sorbonne Université, Inserm U1135, CNRS ERL 8255, Paris, France
| | - Salaheddine Mecheri
- Institut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, CNRS ERL9195 and Inserm U1201, Unité de Biologie des Interactions Hôte Parasites, Paris, France
- *Correspondence: Salaheddine Mecheri,
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10
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Nwonuma CO, Balogun EA, Gyebi GA. Evaluation of Antimalarial Activity of Ethanolic Extract of Annona muricata L.: An in vivo and an in silico Approach. J Evid Based Integr Med 2023; 28:2515690X231165104. [PMID: 37019435 PMCID: PMC10084581 DOI: 10.1177/2515690x231165104] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/07/2023] Open
Abstract
In Nigeria, Annona muricata L. has been used to treat a variety of ailments. The mechanism of the antimalarial activity of ethanolic leaf extract of Annona muricata (EEAML) was investigated using both an in vivo and an in silico approach. The experimental mice were divided into five groups: A-F. The mice in groups B-F were inoculated with Plasmodium berghei NK-65 and treated accordingly. Groups A and B are the negative and positive controls (infected and untreated), respectively. Group C received 10 mg/kg chloroquine (standard drug), whereas groups D-F received 100, 200, and 300 mg/kg body weight of the extract orally respectively. The mice were euthanized eight days after infection, and their liver and blood were collected and used in biochemical tests. Molecular docking was performed using the extract's HPLC compounds and Plasmodium falciparum proteins. In the suppressive, prophylactic, and curative tests, there was a significant decrease (p < 0.05) in parasitemia levels in groups treated with the extract compared to the positive control and standard drug. When compared to the positive control, there was a significant (p < 0.05) reduction in liver MDA, total cholesterol, and total triglyceride levels. The binding energies of luteolin and apigenin-pfprotein complexes were significantly (p < 0.05) higher compared to their respective references. The anti-plasmodial activity of the extract may result from its hypolipidemic effect, which deprives the parasite of essential lipid molecules needed for parasite growth, as well as from the inhibitory effects of apigenin and luteolin on specific proteins required for the Plasmodium metabolic pathway.
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Affiliation(s)
- Charles Obiora Nwonuma
- Department of Biochemistry, College of Pure and Applied Science, Landmark University, Omu-Aran, Kwara State, Nigeria
| | | | - Gideon Ampoma Gyebi
- Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science and Technology, Bingham University, Karu, Nigeria
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11
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Ruberto AA, Maher SP, Vantaux A, Joyner CJ, Bourke C, Balan B, Jex A, Mueller I, Witkowski B, Kyle DE. Single-cell RNA profiling of Plasmodium vivax-infected hepatocytes reveals parasite- and host- specific transcriptomic signatures and therapeutic targets. Front Cell Infect Microbiol 2022; 12:986314. [PMID: 36093191 PMCID: PMC9453201 DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2022.986314] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/04/2022] [Accepted: 08/08/2022] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The resilience of Plasmodium vivax, the most widely-distributed malaria-causing parasite in humans, is attributed to its ability to produce dormant liver forms known as hypnozoites, which can activate weeks, months, or even years after an initial mosquito bite. The factors underlying hypnozoite formation and activation are poorly understood, as is the parasite's influence on the host hepatocyte. Here, we shed light on transcriptome-wide signatures of both the parasite and the infected host cell by sequencing over 1,000 P. vivax-infected hepatocytes at single-cell resolution. We distinguish between replicating schizonts and hypnozoites at the transcriptional level, identifying key differences in transcripts encoding for RNA-binding proteins associated with cell fate. In infected hepatocytes, we show that genes associated with energy metabolism and antioxidant stress response are upregulated, and those involved in the host immune response downregulated, suggesting both schizonts and hypnozoites alter the host intracellular environment. The transcriptional markers in schizonts, hypnozoites, and infected hepatocytes revealed here pinpoint potential factors underlying dormancy and can inform therapeutic targets against P. vivax liver-stage infection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anthony A. Ruberto
- Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, United States
| | - Steven P. Maher
- Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, United States
| | - Amélie Vantaux
- Malaria Molecular Epidemiology Unit, Institut Pasteur du Cambodge, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
| | - Chester J. Joyner
- Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, United States
- Department of Infectious Diseases, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, United States
| | - Caitlin Bourke
- Population Health & Immunity Division, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, Parkville, VIC, Australia
- Department of Medical Biology, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia
| | - Balu Balan
- Population Health & Immunity Division, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, Parkville, VIC, Australia
- Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia
| | - Aaron Jex
- Population Health & Immunity Division, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, Parkville, VIC, Australia
- Department of Medical Biology, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia
- Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia
| | - Ivo Mueller
- Population Health & Immunity Division, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, Parkville, VIC, Australia
- Department of Medical Biology, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia
| | - Benoit Witkowski
- Malaria Molecular Epidemiology Unit, Institut Pasteur du Cambodge, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
| | - Dennis E. Kyle
- Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, United States
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12
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Silveira ELVD, Rai U, Bonezi V, Zárate-Bladés CR, Claser C. CCR6 expression reduces mouse survival upon malarial challenge with Plasmodium berghei NK65 strain. Mem Inst Oswaldo Cruz 2022; 117:e210287. [PMID: 35730803 PMCID: PMC9208320 DOI: 10.1590/0074-02760210287] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/23/2021] [Accepted: 04/26/2022] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND It has been demonstrated that proteins expressed by liver-stage Plasmodium parasites can inhibit the translocation of transcription factors to the nucleus of different cells. This process would hinder the expression of immune genes, such as the CCL20 chemokine. OBJECTIVE Since CCR6 is the only cognate receptor for CCL20, we investigated the importance of this chemokine-receptor axis against rodent malaria. METHODS CCR6-deficient (KO) and wild-type (WT) C57BL/6 mice were challenged with Plasmodium berghei (Pb) NK65 sporozoites or infected red blood cells (iRBCs). Liver parasitic cDNA, parasitemia and serum cytokine concentrations were respectively evaluated through reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), staining thin-blood smears with Giemsa solution, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). FINDINGS Although the sporozoite challenges yielded similar liver parasitic cDNA and parasitemia, KO mice presented a prolonged survival than WT mice. After iRBC challenges, KO mice kept displaying higher survival rates as well as a decreased IL-12 p70 concentration in the serum than WT mice. CONCLUSION Our data suggest that malaria triggered by PbNK65 liver- or blood-stage forms elicit a pro-inflammatory environment that culminates with a decreased survival of infected C57BL/6 mice.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eduardo Lani Volpe da Silveira
- New York University School of Medicine, Department of Pathology, Michael Heidelberg Division of Immunology, New York, NY, United States of America
| | - Urvashi Rai
- New York University School of Medicine, Department of Pathology, Michael Heidelberg Division of Immunology, New York, NY, United States of America
| | - Vivian Bonezi
- Universidade de São Paulo, Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas, Departamento de Análises Clínicas e Toxicológicas, Laboratório de Imunologia de Células B, São Paulo, SP, Brasil
| | - Carlos Rodrigo Zárate-Bladés
- Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Departamento de Microbiologia, Imunologia e Parasitologia, Laboratório de Imunorregulação, Florianópolis, SC, Brasil
| | - Carla Claser
- Universidade de São Paulo, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas, Departamento de Parasitologia, São Paulo, SP, Brasil
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13
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Malaria oocysts require circumsporozoite protein to evade mosquito immunity. Nat Commun 2022; 13:3208. [PMID: 35680915 PMCID: PMC9184642 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-30988-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2021] [Accepted: 05/25/2022] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
Malaria parasites are less vulnerable to mosquito immune responses once ookinetes transform into oocysts, facilitating parasite development in the mosquito. However, the underlying mechanisms of oocyst resistance to mosquito defenses remain unclear. Here, we show that circumsporozoite protein (CSP) is required for rodent malaria oocysts to avoid mosquito defenses. Mosquito infection with CSPmut parasites (mutation in the CSP pexel I/II domains) induces nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) oxidase 5 (NOX5)-mediated hemocyte nitration, thus activating Toll pathway and melanization of mature oocysts, upregulating hemocyte TEP1 expression, and causing defects in the release of sporozoites from oocysts. The pre-infection of mosquitoes with the CSPmut parasites reduces the burden of infection when re-challenged with CSPwt parasites by inducing hemocyte nitration. Thus, we demonstrate why oocysts are invisible to mosquito immunity and reveal an unknown role of CSP in the immune evasion of oocysts, indicating it as a potential target to block malaria transmission. Circumsporozoite protein (CSP), the major surface protein of Plasmodium sporozoites, is important for parasite targeting to mosquito salivary glands and the mammalian liver. Here, Zhu et al. show that CSP is required for rodent malaria oocysts to evade mosquito immunity by inducing hemocyte nitration and causing subsequent defects in sporozoite-release from oocysts.
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14
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Ding M, Huang Z, Wang X, Liu X, Xu L, Chen P, Liu J, Liu Y, Guan H, Chu Y, Liu H. Heparan sulfate proteoglycans-mediated targeted delivery of TGF-β1-binding peptide to liver for improved anti-liver fibrotic activity in vitro and in vivo. Int J Biol Macromol 2022; 209:1516-1525. [PMID: 35452701 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2022.04.085] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/19/2021] [Revised: 04/11/2022] [Accepted: 04/11/2022] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
Abstract
Elevated expressions of transforming growth factor β1 (TGF-β1) have been implicated in the pathogenesis of liver fibrosis, thus attenuating the excessive TGF-β1's activity by TGF-β1-binding peptide is an ideal strategy for the treatment of liver fibrosis. However, the application of small peptide as a pharmaceutical agent is obstacle due to difficult preparation and non-selective delivery. The I-plus sequences of circumsporozoite protein (CSP-I) possesses high affinity for heparan sulfate proteoglycans, which are primarily located on liver tissues. TGF-β1-binding peptide P15 holds specific ability of binding to TGF-β1. In this study, we describe an approach to efficiently preparing liver-targeting peptide P15-CSP-I, which is conjugation of the sequences of P15 to the N-terminus of CSP-I, from the cleavage of biological macromolecule SUMO-tagged P15-CSP-I. In vitro and ex vivo binding assay showed that P15-CSP-I specifically targeted to the hepatocytes and liver tissues. Moreover, P15-CSP-I inhibited cell proliferation, migration and invasion, and decreased fibrosis-related proteins expression in TGF-β1-activated HSCs in vitro. Furthermore, P15-CSP-I ameliorated liver morphology and decreased the fibrosis responses in vivo. Taken together, P15-CSP-I may be a potential candidate for targeting therapy on liver fibrosis due to its high efficient preparation, specific liver-targeting potential and improved anti-liver fibrotic activity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Minglu Ding
- Heilongjiang Province Key Laboratory for Anti-fibrosis Biotherapy, Mudanjiang Medical University, Mudanjiang 157011, PR China
| | - Zhen Huang
- Heilongjiang Province Key Laboratory for Anti-fibrosis Biotherapy, Mudanjiang Medical University, Mudanjiang 157011, PR China; Department of Pediatrics Nursing, Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 610072, PR China
| | - Xiaohua Wang
- Heilongjiang Province Key Laboratory for Anti-fibrosis Biotherapy, Mudanjiang Medical University, Mudanjiang 157011, PR China; Laboratory of Pathogenic Microbiology and Immunology, Mudanjiang Medical University, Mudanjiang 157011, PR China.
| | - Xiaohui Liu
- Heilongjiang Province Key Laboratory for Anti-fibrosis Biotherapy, Mudanjiang Medical University, Mudanjiang 157011, PR China
| | - Liming Xu
- Heilongjiang Province Key Laboratory for Anti-fibrosis Biotherapy, Mudanjiang Medical University, Mudanjiang 157011, PR China
| | - Peijian Chen
- Heilongjiang Province Key Laboratory for Anti-fibrosis Biotherapy, Mudanjiang Medical University, Mudanjiang 157011, PR China
| | - Jieting Liu
- Heilongjiang Province Key Laboratory for Anti-fibrosis Biotherapy, Mudanjiang Medical University, Mudanjiang 157011, PR China
| | - Yong Liu
- Medical Research Center, Mudanjiang Medical University, Mudanjiang 157011, PR China
| | - Huilin Guan
- Medical Research Center, Mudanjiang Medical University, Mudanjiang 157011, PR China
| | - Yanhui Chu
- Heilongjiang Province Key Laboratory for Anti-fibrosis Biotherapy, Mudanjiang Medical University, Mudanjiang 157011, PR China
| | - Haifeng Liu
- Heilongjiang Province Key Laboratory for Anti-fibrosis Biotherapy, Mudanjiang Medical University, Mudanjiang 157011, PR China; Laboratory of Pathogenic Microbiology and Immunology, Mudanjiang Medical University, Mudanjiang 157011, PR China.
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15
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Zheng H, Lu X, Li K, Zhu F, Zhao C, Liu T, Ding Y, Fu Y, Zhang K, Zhou T, Dai J, Wu Y, Xu W. ATG Ubiquitination Is Required for Circumsporozoite Protein to Subvert Host Innate Immunity Against Rodent Malaria Liver Stage. Front Immunol 2022; 13:815936. [PMID: 35222391 PMCID: PMC8864237 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.815936] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2021] [Accepted: 01/20/2022] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Although exo-erythrocytic forms (EEFs) of liver stage malaria parasite in the parasitophorous vacuole (PV) are encountered with robust host innate immunity, EEFs can still survive and successfully complete the infection of hepatocytes, and the underlying mechanism is largely unknown. Here, we showed that sporozoite circumsporozoite protein (CSP) translocated from the parasitophorous vacuole into the hepatocyte cytoplasm significantly mediated the resistance to the killing of EEFs by interferon-gamma (IFN-γ). Attenuation of IFN-γ-mediated killing of EEFs by CSP was dependent on its ability to reduce the levels of autophagy-related genes (ATGs) in hepatocytes. The ATGs downregulation occurred through its enhanced ubiquitination mediated by E3 ligase NEDD4, an enzyme that was upregulated by CSP when it translocated from the cytoplasm into the nucleus of hepatocytes via its nuclear localization signal (NLS) domain. Thus, we have revealed an unrecognized role of CSP in subverting host innate immunity and shed new light for a prophylaxis strategy against liver-stage infection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hong Zheng
- Department of Pathogenic Biology, Army Medical University, Chongqing, China.,The Institute of Immunology, Army Medical University, Chongqing, China.,Department of Thoracic Surgery, Xinqiao Hospital, Army Medical University, Chongqing, China
| | - Xiao Lu
- Department of Pathogenic Biology, Army Medical University, Chongqing, China.,Department of Thoracic Surgery, Xinqiao Hospital, Army Medical University, Chongqing, China
| | - Kai Li
- Department of Pathogenic Biology, Army Medical University, Chongqing, China
| | - Feng Zhu
- Department of Pathogenic Biology, Army Medical University, Chongqing, China
| | - Chenhao Zhao
- Department of Pathogenic Biology, Army Medical University, Chongqing, China
| | - Taiping Liu
- Department of Pathogenic Biology, Army Medical University, Chongqing, China
| | - Yan Ding
- Department of Pathogenic Biology, Army Medical University, Chongqing, China
| | - Yong Fu
- Department of Pathogenic Biology, Army Medical University, Chongqing, China
| | - Kun Zhang
- Department of Pathogenic Biology, Army Medical University, Chongqing, China
| | - Taoli Zhou
- Department of Pathogenic Biology, Army Medical University, Chongqing, China
| | - Jigang Dai
- Department of Thoracic Surgery, Xinqiao Hospital, Army Medical University, Chongqing, China
| | - Yuzhang Wu
- The Institute of Immunology, Army Medical University, Chongqing, China
| | - Wenyue Xu
- Department of Pathogenic Biology, Army Medical University, Chongqing, China.,Key Laboratory of Extreme Environmental Medicine, Ministry of Education of China, Chongqing, China
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16
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Paoletta MS, Wilkowsky SE. Thrombospondin Related Anonymous Protein Superfamily in Vector-Borne Apicomplexans: The Parasite’s Toolkit for Cell Invasion. Front Cell Infect Microbiol 2022; 12:831592. [PMID: 35463644 PMCID: PMC9019593 DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2022.831592] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/08/2021] [Accepted: 03/07/2022] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Apicomplexan parasites transmitted by vectors, including Babesia spp. and Plasmodium spp., cause severe disease in both humans and animals. These parasites have a complex life cycle during which they migrate, invade, and replicate in contrasting hosts such as the mammal and the invertebrate vector. The interaction of parasites with the host cell is mediated by adhesive proteins which play a key role in the different cellular processes regarding successful progression of the life cycle. Thrombospondin related anonymous protein (TRAP) is a superfamily of adhesins that are involved in motility, invasion and egress of the parasite. These proteins are stored and released from apical organelles and have either one or two types of adhesive domains, namely thrombospondin type 1 repeat and von Willebrand factor type A, that upon secretion are located in the extracellular portion of the molecule. Proteins from the TRAP superfamily have been intensively studied in Plasmodium species and to a lesser extent in Babesia spp., where they have proven to be functionally relevant throughout the entire parasite’s journey both in the arthropod vector and in the mammalian host. In recent years new findings provided answers to the role of TRAP proteins and in some cases the function of these adhesins during the parasite’s life cycle was redefined. In this review we will discuss the current knowledge of the diverse roles of the TRAP superfamily in vector-borne parasites from Class Aconoidasida. We will focus on the varied approaches that allowed the understanding of protein function and the relevance of TRAP- superfamily throughout the entire parasite’s cell cycle.
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17
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Arias CF, Acosta FJ, Fernandez-Arias C. Killing the competition: a theoretical framework for liver-stage malaria. Open Biol 2022; 12:210341. [PMID: 35350863 PMCID: PMC8965401 DOI: 10.1098/rsob.210341] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/07/2023] Open
Abstract
The first stage of malaria infections takes place inside the host's hepatocytes. Remarkably, Plasmodium parasites do not infect hepatocytes immediately after reaching the liver. Instead, they migrate through several hepatocytes before infecting their definitive host cells, thus increasing their chances of immune destruction. Considering that malaria can proceed normally without cell traversal, this is indeed a puzzling behaviour. In fact, the role of hepatocyte traversal remains unknown to date, implying that the current understanding of malaria is incomplete. In this work, we hypothesize that the parasites traverse hepatocytes to actively trigger an immune response in the host. This behaviour would be part of a strategy of superinfection exclusion aimed to reduce intraspecific competition during the blood stage of the infection. Based on this hypothesis, we formulate a comprehensive theory of liver-stage malaria that integrates all the available knowledge about the infection. The interest of this new paradigm is not merely theoretical. It highlights major issues in the current empirical approach to the study of Plasmodium and suggests new strategies to fight malaria.
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Affiliation(s)
- Clemente F. Arias
- Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas (CSIC), Madrid, Spain,Grupo Interdisciplinar de Sistemas Complejos de Madrid, Spain
| | | | - Cristina Fernandez-Arias
- Departamento de Inmunología, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain,Instituto de Medicina Molecular, Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal
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18
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Kreutzfeld O, Grützke J, Ingmundson A, Müller K, Matuschewski K. Absence of PEXEL-Dependent Protein Export in Plasmodium Liver Stages Cannot Be Restored by Gain of the HSP101 Protein Translocon ATPase. Front Genet 2021; 12:742153. [PMID: 34956312 PMCID: PMC8693896 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2021.742153] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/15/2021] [Accepted: 10/18/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Host cell remodeling is critical for successful Plasmodium replication inside erythrocytes and achieved by targeted export of parasite-encoded proteins. In contrast, during liver infection the malarial parasite appears to avoid protein export, perhaps to limit exposure of parasite antigens by infected liver cells. HSP101, the force-generating ATPase of the protein translocon of exported proteins (PTEX) is the only component that is switched off during early liver infection. Here, we generated transgenic Plasmodium berghei parasite lines that restore liver stage expression of HSP101. HSP101 expression in infected hepatocytes was achieved by swapping the endogenous promoter with the ptex150 promoter and by inserting an additional copy under the control of the elongation one alpha (ef1α) promoter. Both promoters drive constitutive and, hence, also pre-erythrocytic expression. Transgenic parasites were able to complete the life cycle, but failed to export PEXEL-proteins in early liver stages. Our results suggest that PTEX-dependent early liver stage export cannot be restored by addition of HSP101, indicative of alternative export complexes or other functions of the PTEX core complex during liver infection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Oriana Kreutzfeld
- Molecular Parasitology, Institute of Biology/Faculty for Life Sciences, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany.,Parasitology Unit, Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology, Berlin, Germany.,Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, United States
| | - Josephine Grützke
- Molecular Parasitology, Institute of Biology/Faculty for Life Sciences, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany.,Parasitology Unit, Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology, Berlin, Germany.,Department of Biological Safety, Federal Institute for Risk Assessment, Berlin, Germany
| | - Alyssa Ingmundson
- Molecular Parasitology, Institute of Biology/Faculty for Life Sciences, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany.,Parasitology Unit, Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology, Berlin, Germany
| | - Katja Müller
- Molecular Parasitology, Institute of Biology/Faculty for Life Sciences, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany.,Parasitology Unit, Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology, Berlin, Germany
| | - Kai Matuschewski
- Molecular Parasitology, Institute of Biology/Faculty for Life Sciences, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany.,Parasitology Unit, Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology, Berlin, Germany
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19
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Sharma PK, Kalia I, Kaushik V, Brünnert D, Quadiri A, Kashif M, Chahar KR, Agrawal A, Singh AP, Goyal P. STK35L1 regulates host cell cycle-related genes and is essential for Plasmodium infection during the liver stage of malaria. Exp Cell Res 2021; 406:112764. [PMID: 34358525 DOI: 10.1016/j.yexcr.2021.112764] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2021] [Revised: 07/30/2021] [Accepted: 07/31/2021] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Protein kinases of both the parasite and the host are crucial in parasite invasion and survival and might act as drug targets against drug-resistant malaria. STK35L1 was among the top five hits in kinome-wide screening, suggesting its role in malaria's liver stage. However, the role of host STK35L1 in malaria remains elusive. In this study, we found that STK35L1 was highly upregulated during the infection of Plasmodium berghei (P. berghei) in HepG2 cells and mice liver, and knockdown of STK35L1 remarkably suppressed the sporozoites' infection in HepG2 cells. We showed that STAT3 is upregulated and phosphorylated during P. berghei sporozoites' infection, and STAT3 activation is required for both the upregulation of STK35L1 and STAT3. Furthermore, we found that ten cell cycle genes were upregulated in the sporozoite-infected hepatocytes. Knockdown of STK35L1 inhibited the basal expression of these genes except CDKN3 and GTSE1 in HepG2 cells. Thus, we identified STK35L1 as a host kinase that plays an obligatory role in malaria's liver stage and propose that it may serve as a potential drug target against drug-resistant malaria.
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Affiliation(s)
- Phulwanti Kumari Sharma
- Department of Biotechnology, School of Life Sciences, Central University of Rajasthan, Bandarsindri, Kishangarh, Rajasthan, 305 817, India
| | - Inderjeet Kalia
- National Institute of Immunology, Aruna Asaf Ali Marg, New Delhi, 110067, India
| | - Vibha Kaushik
- Department of Biotechnology, School of Life Sciences, Central University of Rajasthan, Bandarsindri, Kishangarh, Rajasthan, 305 817, India
| | - Daniela Brünnert
- Experimental Tumor Immunology, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Würzburg Medical School, Würzburg, Germany
| | - Afshana Quadiri
- National Institute of Immunology, Aruna Asaf Ali Marg, New Delhi, 110067, India
| | - Mohammad Kashif
- National Institute of Immunology, Aruna Asaf Ali Marg, New Delhi, 110067, India
| | - Kirti Raj Chahar
- Department of Biotechnology, School of Life Sciences, Central University of Rajasthan, Bandarsindri, Kishangarh, Rajasthan, 305 817, India
| | - Akhil Agrawal
- Department of Microbiology, School of Life Sciences, Central University of Rajasthan, Bandarsindri, Kishangarh, Rajasthan, 305 817, India
| | - Agam Prasad Singh
- National Institute of Immunology, Aruna Asaf Ali Marg, New Delhi, 110067, India.
| | - Pankaj Goyal
- Department of Biotechnology, School of Life Sciences, Central University of Rajasthan, Bandarsindri, Kishangarh, Rajasthan, 305 817, India.
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20
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Raissi V, Etemadi S, Getso MI, Mehravaran A, Raiesi O. Structure-genetic diversity and recombinant protein of circumsporozoite protein (CSP) of vivax malaria antigen: A potential malaria vaccine candidate. GENE REPORTS 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.genrep.2021.101132] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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21
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Singh S, Santos JM, Orchard LM, Yamada N, van Biljon R, Painter HJ, Mahony S, Llinás M. The PfAP2-G2 transcription factor is a critical regulator of gametocyte maturation. Mol Microbiol 2021; 115:1005-1024. [PMID: 33368818 PMCID: PMC8330521 DOI: 10.1111/mmi.14676] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2020] [Revised: 12/22/2020] [Accepted: 12/22/2020] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Differentiation from asexual blood stages to mature sexual gametocytes is required for the transmission of malaria parasites. Here, we report that the ApiAP2 transcription factor, PfAP2-G2 (PF3D7_1408200) plays a critical role in the maturation of Plasmodium falciparum gametocytes. PfAP2-G2 binds to the promoters of a wide array of genes that are expressed at many stages of the parasite life cycle. Interestingly, we also find binding of PfAP2-G2 within the gene body of almost 3,000 genes, which strongly correlates with the location of H3K36me3 and several other histone modifications as well as Heterochromatin Protein 1 (HP1), suggesting that occupancy of PfAP2-G2 in gene bodies may serve as an alternative regulatory mechanism. Disruption of pfap2-g2 does not impact asexual development, but the majority of sexual parasites are unable to mature beyond stage III gametocytes. The absence of pfap2-g2 leads to overexpression of 28% of the genes bound by PfAP2-G2 and none of the PfAP2-G2 bound genes are downregulated, suggesting that it is a repressor. We also find that PfAP2-G2 interacts with chromatin remodeling proteins, a microrchidia (MORC) protein, and another ApiAP2 protein (PF3D7_1139300). Overall our data demonstrate that PfAP2-G2 establishes an essential gametocyte maturation program in association with other chromatin-related proteins.
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Affiliation(s)
- Suprita Singh
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA 16802, Huck Center for Malaria Research, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA 16802
| | - Joana M. Santos
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA 16802, Huck Center for Malaria Research, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA 16802
| | - Lindsey M. Orchard
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA 16802, Huck Center for Malaria Research, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA 16802
| | - Naomi Yamada
- Department of Chemistry, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA 16802
| | - Riëtte van Biljon
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA 16802, Huck Center for Malaria Research, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA 16802
| | - Heather J. Painter
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA 16802, Huck Center for Malaria Research, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA 16802
| | - Shaun Mahony
- Center for Eukaryotic Gene Regulation, Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA 16802
| | - Manuel Llinás
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA 16802, Huck Center for Malaria Research, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA 16802
- Center for Eukaryotic Gene Regulation, Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA 16802
- Department of Chemistry, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA 16802
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22
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Singer M, Frischknecht F. Fluorescent tagging of Plasmodium circumsporozoite protein allows imaging of sporozoite formation but blocks egress from oocysts. Cell Microbiol 2021; 23:e13321. [PMID: 33600048 DOI: 10.1111/cmi.13321] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/23/2020] [Revised: 02/10/2021] [Accepted: 02/16/2021] [Indexed: 01/23/2023]
Abstract
The circumsporozoite protein, CSP, is the major surface protein of Plasmodium sporozoites, the form of malaria parasites transmitted by mosquitoes. CSP is involved in sporozoite formation within and egress from oocysts, entry into mosquito salivary glands and mammalian liver as well as migration in the skin. Yet, how CSP facilitates sporozoite formation, oocyst egress and hepatocyte specific invasion is still not fully understood. Here, we aimed at generating a series of parasites expressing full-length versions of CSP with internally inserted green fluorescent protein between known domains at the endogenous csp locus. This enabled the investigation of sporozoite formation in living oocysts. GFP insertion after the signal peptide leads to cleavage of GFP before the fusion protein reached the plasma membrane while insertion of GFP before or after the TSR domain prevented sporozoite egress and liver invasion. These data suggest different strategies for obtaining mature salivary gland sporozoites that express GFP-CSP fusions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mirko Singer
- Integrative Parasitology, Center for Infectious Diseases, Heidelberg University Medical School, Heidelberg, Germany
- Experimental Parasitology, Department for Veterinary Sciences, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Friedrich Frischknecht
- Integrative Parasitology, Center for Infectious Diseases, Heidelberg University Medical School, Heidelberg, Germany
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23
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Novel insights from the Plasmodium falciparum sporozoite-specific proteome by probabilistic integration of 26 studies. PLoS Comput Biol 2021; 17:e1008067. [PMID: 33930021 PMCID: PMC8115857 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1008067] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/14/2020] [Revised: 05/12/2021] [Accepted: 04/06/2021] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Plasmodium species, the causative agent of malaria, have a complex life cycle involving two hosts. The sporozoite life stage is characterized by an extended phase in the mosquito salivary glands followed by free movement and rapid invasion of hepatocytes in the human host. This transmission stage has been the subject of many transcriptomics and proteomics studies and is also targeted by the most advanced malaria vaccine. We applied Bayesian data integration to determine which proteins are not only present in sporozoites but are also specific to that stage. Transcriptomic and proteomic Plasmodium data sets from 26 studies were weighted for how representative they are for sporozoites, based on a carefully assembled gold standard for Plasmodium falciparum (Pf) proteins known to be present or absent during the sporozoite life stage. Of 5418 Pf genes for which expression data were available at the RNA level or at the protein level, 975 were identified as enriched in sporozoites and 90 specific to them. We show that Pf sporozoites are enriched for proteins involved in type II fatty acid synthesis in the apicoplast and GPI anchor synthesis, but otherwise appear metabolically relatively inactive in the salivary glands of mosquitos. Newly annotated hypothetical sporozoite-specific and sporozoite-enriched proteins highlight sporozoite-specific functions. They include PF3D7_0104100 that we identified to be homologous to the prominin family, which in human has been related to a quiescent state of cancer cells. We document high levels of genetic variability for sporozoite proteins, specifically for sporozoite-specific proteins that elicit antibodies in the human host. Nevertheless, we can identify nine relatively well-conserved sporozoite proteins that elicit antibodies and that together can serve as markers for previous exposure. Our understanding of sporozoite biology benefits from identifying key pathways that are enriched during this life stage. This work can guide studies of molecular mechanisms underlying sporozoite biology and potential well-conserved targets for marker and drug development. When a person is bitten by an infectious malaria mosquito, sporozoites are injected into the skin with mosquito saliva. These sporozoites then travel to the liver, invade hepatocytes and multiply before the onset of the symptom-causing blood stage of malaria. By integrating published data, we contrast sporozoite protein expression with other life stages to filter out the unique features of sporozoites that help us understand this stage. We used a “guideline” that we derived from the literature on individual proteins so that we knew which proteins should be present or absent at the sporozoite stage, allowing us to weigh 26 data sets for their relevance to sporozoites. Among the newly discovered sporozoite-specific genes are candidates for fatty acid synthesis while others might play a role keeping the sporozoites in an inactive state in the mosquito salivary glands. Furthermore, we show that most sporozoite-specific proteins are genetically more variable than non-sporozoite proteins. We identify a set of conserved sporozoite proteins against which antibodies can serve as markers of recent exposure to sporozoites or that can serve as vaccine candidates. Our predictions of sporozoite-specific proteins and the assignment of previously unknown functions give new insights into the biology of this life stage.
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Abstract
Obligate intracellular malaria parasites reside within a vacuolar compartment generated during invasion which is the principal interface between pathogen and host. To subvert their host cell and support their metabolism, these parasites coordinate a range of transport activities at this membrane interface that are critically important to parasite survival and virulence, including nutrient import, waste efflux, effector protein export, and uptake of host cell cytosol. Here, we review our current understanding of the transport mechanisms acting at the malaria parasite vacuole during the blood and liver-stages of development with a particular focus on recent advances in our understanding of effector protein translocation into the host cell by the Plasmodium Translocon of EXported proteins (PTEX) and small molecule transport by the PTEX membrane-spanning pore EXP2. Comparison to Toxoplasma gondii and other related apicomplexans is provided to highlight how similar and divergent mechanisms are employed to fulfill analogous transport activities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Josh R. Beck
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, United States of America
| | - Chi-Min Ho
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, New York, United States of America
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25
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Altable M, de la Serna JM. Protection against COVID-19 in African population: Immunology, genetics, and malaria clues for therapeutic targets. Virus Res 2021; 299:198347. [PMID: 33631219 PMCID: PMC7898966 DOI: 10.1016/j.virusres.2021.198347] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/23/2020] [Revised: 02/14/2021] [Accepted: 02/15/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND There is a marked discrepancy between SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence and COVID-19 cases and deaths in Africa. MAIN: SARS-CoV-2 stimulates humoral and cellular immunity systems, as well as mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and nuclear NF-kB signalling pathways, which regulate inflammatory gene expression and immune cell differentiation. The result is pro-inflammatory cytokines release, hyperinflammatory condition, and cytokine storm, which provoke severe lung alterations that can lead to multi-organ failure in COVID-19. Multiple genetic and immunologic factors may contribute to the severity of COVID-19 in African individuals when compared to the rest of the global population. In this article, the role of malaria, NF-kB and MAPK pathways, caspase-12 expression, high level of LAIR-1-containing antibodies, and differential glycophorins (GYPA/B) expression in COVID-19 are discussed. CONCLUSION Understanding pathophysiological mechanisms can help identify target points for drugs and vaccines development against COVID-19. To our knowledge, this is the first study that explores this link and proposes a biological and molecular answer to the epidemiologic discrepancy in COVID-19 in Africa.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marcos Altable
- Private Practice of Neurology, Neuroceuta. (Virgen de África Clinic), Ceuta, Spain.
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26
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Fernandez-Ruiz D, de Menezes MN, Holz LE, Ghilas S, Heath WR, Beattie L. Harnessing liver-resident memory T cells for protection against malaria. Expert Rev Vaccines 2021; 20:127-141. [PMID: 33501877 DOI: 10.1080/14760584.2021.1881485] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Tissue-resident memory T cells (TRM cells) are powerful mediators of protracted adaptive immunity to infection in peripheral organs. Harnessing TRM cells through vaccination hence promises unprecedented potential for protection against infection. A paramount example of this is malaria, a major infectious disease for which immunity through traditional vaccination strategies remains challenging. Liver TRM cells appear to be highly protective against malaria, and recent developments in our knowledge of the biology of these cells have defined promising, novel strategies for their induction. AREAS COVERED Here, we describe the path that led to the discovery of TRM cells and discuss the importance of liver TRM cells in immunity against Plasmodium spp. infection; we summarize current knowledge on TRM cell biology and discuss the current state and potential of TRM-based vaccination against malaria. EXPERT OPINION TRM based vaccination has emerged as a promising means to achieve efficient protection against malaria. Recent advances provide a solid basis for continuing the development of this area of research. Deeper understanding of the mechanisms that mediate TRM formation and maintenance and identification of immunogenic and protective target epitopes suitable for human vaccination remain the main challenges for translation of these discoveries.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel Fernandez-Ruiz
- Dept. Of Microbiology and Immunology, Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, the University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Vic, Australia.,Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in Advanced Molecular Imaging, University of Melbourne, Melbourne,Vic, Australia
| | - Maria N de Menezes
- Dept. Of Microbiology and Immunology, Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, the University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Vic, Australia
| | - Lauren E Holz
- Dept. Of Microbiology and Immunology, Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, the University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Vic, Australia.,Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in Advanced Molecular Imaging, University of Melbourne, Melbourne,Vic, Australia
| | - Sonia Ghilas
- Dept. Of Microbiology and Immunology, Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, the University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Vic, Australia.,Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in Advanced Molecular Imaging, University of Melbourne, Melbourne,Vic, Australia
| | - William R Heath
- Dept. Of Microbiology and Immunology, Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, the University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Vic, Australia.,Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in Advanced Molecular Imaging, University of Melbourne, Melbourne,Vic, Australia
| | - Lynette Beattie
- Dept. Of Microbiology and Immunology, Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, the University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Vic, Australia.,Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in Advanced Molecular Imaging, University of Melbourne, Melbourne,Vic, Australia
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Tajeri S, Langsley G. Theileria secretes proteins to subvert its host leukocyte. Biol Cell 2021; 113:220-233. [PMID: 33314227 DOI: 10.1111/boc.202000096] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/23/2020] [Revised: 08/31/2020] [Accepted: 09/10/2020] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Abstract
Theileria parasites are classified in the phylum Apicomplexa that includes several genera of medical and veterinary importance such as Plasmodium, Babesia, Toxoplasma and Cryptosporidium. These protozoans have evolved subtle ways to reshape their intracellular niche for their own benefit and Theileria is no exception. This tick transmitted microorganism is unique among all eukaryotes in that its intracellular schizont stage is able to transform its mammalian host leukocytes into an immortalised highly disseminating cell that phenocopies tumour cells. Here, we describe what is known about secreted Theileria-encoded host cell manipulators.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shahin Tajeri
- INSERM U1016, CNRS UMR8104, Cochin Institute, Laboratoire de Biologie Comparative des Apicomplexes, Faculté de Médecine, Université Paris Descartes-Sorbonne Paris Cité, Paris, 75014, France.,Sorbonne Université, INSERM, CNRS, Centre d'Immunologie et des Maladies Infectieuses, CIMI, Paris, 75013, France
| | - Gordon Langsley
- INSERM U1016, CNRS UMR8104, Cochin Institute, Laboratoire de Biologie Comparative des Apicomplexes, Faculté de Médecine, Université Paris Descartes-Sorbonne Paris Cité, Paris, 75014, France
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28
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Bettencourt P. Current Challenges in the Identification of Pre-Erythrocytic Malaria Vaccine Candidate Antigens. Front Immunol 2020; 11:190. [PMID: 32153565 PMCID: PMC7046804 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2020.00190] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/29/2019] [Accepted: 01/24/2020] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Plasmodium spp.-infected mosquitos inject sporozoites into the skin of a mammalian host during a blood meal. These enter the host's circulatory system and establish an infection in the liver. After a silent metamorphosis, merozoites invade the blood leading to the symptomatic and transmissible stages of malaria. The silent pre-erythrocytic malaria stage represents a bottleneck in the disease which is ideal to block progression to clinical malaria, through chemotherapeutic and immunoprophylactic interventions. RTS,S/AS01, the only malaria vaccine close to licensure, although with poor efficacy, blocks the sporozoite invasion mainly through the action of antibodies against the CSP protein, a major component of the pellicle of the sporozoite. Strikingly, sterile protection against malaria can be obtained through immunization with radiation-attenuated sporozoites, genetically attenuated sporozoites or through chemoprophylaxis with infectious sporozoites in animals and humans, but the deployability of sporozoite-based live vaccines pose tremendous challenges. The protection induced by sporozoites occurs in the pre-erythrocytic stages and is mediated mainly by antibodies against the sporozoite and CD8+ T cells against peptides presented by MHC class I molecules in infected hepatocytes. Thus, the identification of malaria antigens expressed in the sporozoite and liver-stage may provide new vaccine candidates to be included, alone or in combination, as recombinant protein-based, virus-like particles or sub-unit virally-vectored vaccines. Here I review the efforts being made to identify Plasmodium falciparum antigens expressed during liver-stage with focus on the development of parasite, hepatocyte, mouse models, and resulting rate of infection in order to identify new vaccine candidates and to improve the efficacy of the current vaccines. Finally, I propose new approaches for the identification of liver-stage antigens based on immunopeptidomics.
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29
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30
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Wells MB, Andrew DJ. Anopheles Salivary Gland Architecture Shapes Plasmodium Sporozoite Availability for Transmission. mBio 2019; 10:e01238-19. [PMID: 31387905 PMCID: PMC6686039 DOI: 10.1128/mbio.01238-19] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/13/2019] [Accepted: 07/11/2019] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Plasmodium sporozoites (SPZs) must traverse the mosquito salivary glands (SGs) to reach a new vertebrate host and continue the malaria disease cycle. Although SGs can harbor thousands of sporozoites, only 10 to 100 are deposited into a host during probing. To determine how the SGs might function as a bottleneck in SPZ transmission, we have characterized Anopheles stephensi SGs infected with the rodent malaria parasite Plasmodium berghei using immunofluorescence confocal microscopy. Our analyses corroborate findings from previous electron microscopy studies and provide new insights into the invasion process. We identified sites of SPZ accumulation within SGs across a range of infection intensities. Although SPZs were most often seen in the distal lateral SG lobes, they were also observed in the medial and proximal lateral lobes. Most parasites were associated with either the basement membrane or secretory cavities. SPZs accumulated at physical barriers, including fused salivary ducts and extensions of the chitinous salivary duct wall into the distal lumen. SPZs were observed only rarely within salivary ducts. SPZs appeared to contact each other in many different quantities, not just in the previously described large bundles. Within parasite bundles, all of the SPZs were oriented in the same direction. We found that moderate levels of infection did not necessarily correlate with major SG disruptions or abundant SG cell death. Altogether, our findings suggest that SG architecture largely acts as a barrier to SPZ transmission.IMPORTANCE Malaria continues to have a devastating impact on human health. With growing resistance to insecticides and antimalarial drugs, as well as climate change predictions indicating expansion of vector territories, the impact of malaria is likely to increase. Additional insights regarding pathogen migration through vector mosquitoes are needed to develop novel methods to prevent transmission to new hosts. Pathogens, including the microbes that cause malaria, must invade the salivary glands (SGs) for transmission. Since SG traversal is required for parasite transmission, SGs are ideal targets for transmission-blocking strategies. The work presented here highlights the role that mosquito SG architecture plays in limiting parasite traversal, revealing how the SG transmission bottleneck is imposed. Further, our data provide unprecedented detail about SG-sporozoite interactions and gland-to-gland variation not provided in previous studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael B Wells
- Department of Cell Biology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
- Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | - Deborah J Andrew
- Department of Cell Biology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
- Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
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31
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Xu R, Liu Y, Fan R, Liang R, Yue L, Liu S, Su XZ, Li J. Generation and functional characterisation of Plasmodium yoelii csp deletion mutants using a microhomology-based CRISPR/Cas9 method. Int J Parasitol 2019; 49:705-714. [PMID: 31202685 PMCID: PMC10993195 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpara.2019.04.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/23/2019] [Revised: 04/01/2019] [Accepted: 04/05/2019] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
CRISPR/Cas9 is a powerful genome editing method that has greatly facilitated functional studies in many eukaryotic organisms including malaria parasites. Due to the lack of genes encoding enzymes necessary for the non-homologous end joining DNA repair pathway, genetic manipulation of malaria parasite genomes is generally accomplished through homologous recombination requiring the presence of DNA templates. Recently, an alternative double-strand break repair pathway, microhomology-mediated end joining, was found in the Plasmodium falciparum parasite. Taking advantage of the MMEJ pathway, we developed a MMEJ-based CRISPR/Cas9 (mCRISPR) strategy to efficiently generate multiple mutant parasites simultaneously in genes with repetitive sequences. As a proof of principle, we successfully produced various size mutants in the central repeat region of the Plasmodium yoelii circumsporozoite surface protein without the use of template DNA. Monitoring mixed parasite populations and individual parasites with different sizes of CSP-CRR showed that the CSP-CRR plays a role in the development of mosquito stages, with severe developmental defects in parasites with large deletions in the repeat region. However, the majority of the csp mutant parasite clones grew similarly to the wild type P. yoelii 17XL parasite in mice. This study develops a useful technique to efficiently generate mutant parasites with deletions or insertions, and shows that the CSP-CRR plays a role in parasite development in mosquito.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ruixue Xu
- State Key Laboratory of Cellular Stress Biology, Innovation Center for Cell Signaling Network, School of Life Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian 361102, China
| | - Yanjing Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Cellular Stress Biology, Innovation Center for Cell Signaling Network, School of Life Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian 361102, China
| | - Ruoxi Fan
- State Key Laboratory of Cellular Stress Biology, Innovation Center for Cell Signaling Network, School of Life Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian 361102, China
| | - Rui Liang
- State Key Laboratory of Cellular Stress Biology, Innovation Center for Cell Signaling Network, School of Life Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian 361102, China
| | - Lixia Yue
- State Key Laboratory of Cellular Stress Biology, Innovation Center for Cell Signaling Network, School of Life Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian 361102, China
| | - Shengfa Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Cellular Stress Biology, Innovation Center for Cell Signaling Network, School of Life Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian 361102, China
| | - Xin-Zhuan Su
- Laboratory of Malaria and Vector Research, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
| | - Jian Li
- State Key Laboratory of Cellular Stress Biology, Innovation Center for Cell Signaling Network, School of Life Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian 361102, China.
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32
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Togiri J, Segireddy RR, Mastan BS, Singh D, Kolli SK, Ghosh A, Al-Nihmi FMA, Maruthi M, Choudhary HH, Dey S, Mishra S, Kumar KA. Plasmodium berghei sporozoite specific genes- PbS10 and PbS23/SSP3 are required for the development of exo-erythrocytic forms. Mol Biochem Parasitol 2019; 232:111198. [PMID: 31251952 DOI: 10.1016/j.molbiopara.2019.111198] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/18/2019] [Revised: 06/17/2019] [Accepted: 06/23/2019] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Abstract
Plasmodium sporozoites are infective forms of the parasite to mammalian hepatocytes. Sporozoite surface or secreted proteins likely play an important role in recognition, invasion and successful establishment of hepatocyte infection. By approaches of reverse genetics, we report the functional analysis of two Plasmodium berghei (Pb) sporozoite specific genes- PbS10 and PbS23/SSP3 that encode for proteins with a putative signal peptide. The expression of both genes was high in oocyst and salivary gland sporozoite stages as compared to other life cycle stages and PbS23/SSP3 protein was detected in salivary gland sporozoites. Both mutants were indistinguishable to wild-type parasites with regard to asexual growth in RBC, ability to complete sexual reproduction and form sporozoites in vector host. While the sporozoite stage of both mutants were able to glide and invade hepatocytes normally in vitro and in vivo, PbS10 mutants suffered growth attenuation at an early stage while PbS23/SSP3 mutants manifested defect during late exo-erythrocytic form maturation. Interestingly, both mutants gave rare breakthrough infections, suggesting that while both were critical for liver stage development, their depletion did not completely abrogate blood stage infection. These findings have important implications for weakening sporozoites by multiple gene attenuation towards the generation of a safe whole organism vaccine.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jyothi Togiri
- Department of Animal Biology, School of Life Sciences, University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad, 500046, India
| | - Rameswara Reddy Segireddy
- Department of Animal Biology, School of Life Sciences, University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad, 500046, India
| | - Babu S Mastan
- Department of Animal Biology, School of Life Sciences, University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad, 500046, India
| | - Dipti Singh
- Department of Animal Biology, School of Life Sciences, University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad, 500046, India
| | - Surendra Kumar Kolli
- Department of Animal Biology, School of Life Sciences, University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad, 500046, India
| | - Ankit Ghosh
- Division of Parasitology, CSIR-Central Drug Research Institute, Lucknow, 226031, India
| | | | - Mulaka Maruthi
- Department of Animal Biology, School of Life Sciences, University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad, 500046, India
| | - Hadi Hasan Choudhary
- Division of Parasitology, CSIR-Central Drug Research Institute, Lucknow, 226031, India
| | - Sandeep Dey
- Department of Animal Biology, School of Life Sciences, University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad, 500046, India
| | - Satish Mishra
- Division of Parasitology, CSIR-Central Drug Research Institute, Lucknow, 226031, India
| | - Kota Arun Kumar
- Department of Animal Biology, School of Life Sciences, University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad, 500046, India.
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33
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LaMonte GM, Orjuela-Sanchez P, Calla J, Wang LT, Li S, Swann J, Cowell AN, Zou BY, Abdel-Haleem Mohamed AM, Villa Galarce ZH, Moreno M, Tong Rios C, Vinetz JM, Lewis N, Winzeler EA. Dual RNA-seq identifies human mucosal immunity protein Mucin-13 as a hallmark of Plasmodium exoerythrocytic infection. Nat Commun 2019; 10:488. [PMID: 30700707 PMCID: PMC6353872 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-08349-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/11/2018] [Accepted: 12/24/2018] [Indexed: 12/28/2022] Open
Abstract
The exoerythrocytic stage of Plasmodium infection is a critical window for prophylactic intervention. Using genome-wide dual RNA sequencing of flow-sorted infected and uninfected hepatoma cells we show that the human mucosal immunity gene, mucin-13 (MUC13), is strongly upregulated during Plasmodium exoerythrocytic hepatic-stage infection. We confirm MUC13 transcript increases in hepatoma cell lines and primary hepatocytes. In immunofluorescence assays, host MUC13 protein expression distinguishes infected cells from adjacent uninfected cells and shows similar colocalization with parasite biomarkers such as UIS4 and HSP70. We further show that localization patterns are species independent, marking both P. berghei and P. vivax infected cells, and that MUC13 can be used to identify compounds that inhibit parasite replication in hepatocytes. This data provides insights into host-parasite interactions in Plasmodium infection, and demonstrates that a component of host mucosal immunity is reprogrammed during the progression of infection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gregory M LaMonte
- Department of Pediatrics, University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine, La Jolla, CA, 92093, USA
| | - Pamela Orjuela-Sanchez
- Department of Pediatrics, University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine, La Jolla, CA, 92093, USA
| | - Jaeson Calla
- Department of Pediatrics, University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine, La Jolla, CA, 92093, USA
| | - Lawrence T Wang
- Department of Pediatrics, University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine, La Jolla, CA, 92093, USA
| | - Shangzhong Li
- Department of Pediatrics, University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine, La Jolla, CA, 92093, USA
- Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability at the University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, 92093, USA
- Department of Bioengineering, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, 92093, USA
| | - Justine Swann
- Department of Pediatrics, University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine, La Jolla, CA, 92093, USA
| | - Annie N Cowell
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, 92093, USA
| | - Bing Yu Zou
- Department of Pediatrics, University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine, La Jolla, CA, 92093, USA
| | - Alyaa M Abdel-Haleem Mohamed
- Computational Bioscience Research Centre (CBRC) and Biological and Environmental Sciences and Engineering (BESE) division, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, Saudi Arabia
| | - Zaira Hellen Villa Galarce
- Laboratorio ICEMR-Amazonia, Laboratorio de Investigación y Desarrollo, Facultad de Ciencias y Filosofia, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Lima, Peru
| | - Marta Moreno
- Laboratorio ICEMR-Amazonia, Laboratorio de Investigación y Desarrollo, Facultad de Ciencias y Filosofia, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Lima, Peru
- London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Department of Immunology and Infection, London, UK
| | - Carlos Tong Rios
- Laboratorio ICEMR-Amazonia, Laboratorio de Investigación y Desarrollo, Facultad de Ciencias y Filosofia, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Lima, Peru
| | - Joseph M Vinetz
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, 92093, USA
- Laboratorio ICEMR-Amazonia, Laboratorio de Investigación y Desarrollo, Facultad de Ciencias y Filosofia, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Lima, Peru
- Yale School of Medicine, Section of Infectious Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Nathan Lewis
- Department of Pediatrics, University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine, La Jolla, CA, 92093, USA
- Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability at the University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, 92093, USA
- Department of Bioengineering, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, 92093, USA
| | - Elizabeth A Winzeler
- Department of Pediatrics, University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine, La Jolla, CA, 92093, USA.
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34
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Deng XF, Zhou D, Liu QX, Zheng H, Ding Y, Xu WY, Min JX, Dai JG. Plasmodium circumsporozoite protein suppresses the growth of A549 cells via inhibiting nuclear transcription factor κB. Oncol Lett 2018; 15:6585-6591. [PMID: 29616122 DOI: 10.3892/ol.2018.8115] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/30/2015] [Accepted: 09/15/2017] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Blocking the activation of nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) is a promising strategy for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer. The circumsporozoite protein (CSP), a key component of the sporozoite stage of the malaria parasite, was previously reported to block NF-κB activation in hepatocytes. Therefore, in the present study, the effect of CSP on the growth of the human lung cancer cell line, A549, was investigated. It was demonstrated that transfection with a recombinant plasmid expressing CSP was able to inhibit the proliferation of A549 cells in a dose-dependent manner and induce the apoptosis of A549 cells. A NF-κB gene reporter assay indicated that CSP and its nuclear localization signal (NLS) motif were able to equally suppress the activation of NF-κB following stimulation with human recombinant tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α in A549 cells. Furthermore, western blot analysis indicated that NLS did not affect the phosphorylation and degradation of IκB, but was able to markedly inhibit the nuclear translocation of NF-κB in TNF-α stimulated A549 cells. Therefore, the data suggest that CSP may be investigated as a potential novel NF-κB inhibitor for the treatment of lung cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xu-Feng Deng
- Department of Thoracic Surgery, Xinqiao Hospital, The Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400037, P.R. China.,Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, The First People's Hospital of Zunyi, Guiyang, Guizhou 563000, P.R. China
| | - Dong Zhou
- Department of Thoracic Surgery, Xinqiao Hospital, The Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400037, P.R. China
| | - Quan-Xing Liu
- Department of Thoracic Surgery, Xinqiao Hospital, The Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400037, P.R. China
| | - Hong Zheng
- Institute of Immunology of PLA, College of Basic Medical Sciences, The Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400038, P.R. China
| | - Yan Ding
- Department of Pathogenic Biology, College of Basic Medical Sciences, The Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400038, P.R. China
| | - Wen-Yue Xu
- Department of Pathogenic Biology, College of Basic Medical Sciences, The Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400038, P.R. China
| | - Jia-Xin Min
- Department of Thoracic Surgery, Xinqiao Hospital, The Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400037, P.R. China
| | - Ji-Gang Dai
- Department of Thoracic Surgery, Xinqiao Hospital, The Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400037, P.R. China
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Stabilization of a chimeric malaria antigen in separation and purification through efficient inhibition of protease activity by imidazole. Process Biochem 2018. [DOI: 10.1016/j.procbio.2017.10.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
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36
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Zhang M, Faou P, Maier AG, Rug M. Plasmodium falciparum exported protein PFE60 influences Maurer’s clefts architecture and virulence complex composition. Int J Parasitol 2018; 48:83-95. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpara.2017.09.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/11/2017] [Revised: 08/20/2017] [Accepted: 09/06/2017] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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Sherling ES, van Ooij C. Host cell remodeling by pathogens: the exomembrane system in Plasmodium-infected erythrocytes. FEMS Microbiol Rev 2017; 40:701-21. [PMID: 27587718 PMCID: PMC5007283 DOI: 10.1093/femsre/fuw016] [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] [Accepted: 05/18/2016] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Malaria is caused by infection of erythrocytes by parasites of the genus Plasmodium. To survive inside erythrocytes, these parasites induce sweeping changes within the host cell, one of the most dramatic of which is the formation of multiple membranous compartments, collectively referred to as the exomembrane system. As an uninfected mammalian erythrocyte is devoid of internal membranes, the parasite must be the force and the source behind the formation of these compartments. Even though the first evidence of the presence these of internal compartments was obtained over a century ago, their functions remain mostly unclear, and in some cases completely unknown, and the mechanisms underlying their formation are still mysterious. In this review, we provide an overview of the different parts of the exomembrane system, describing the parasitophorous vacuole, the tubovesicular network, Maurer's clefts, the caveola-vesicle complex, J dots and other mobile compartments, and the small vesicles that have been observed in Plasmodium-infected cells. Finally, we combine the data into a simplified view of the exomembrane system and its relation to the alterations of the host erythrocyte. Plasmodium parasites remodel the host erythrocyte in various ways, including the formation of several membranous compartments, together referred to as the exomembrane system, within the erythrocyte cytosol that together are key to the sweeping changes in the host cell.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emma S Sherling
- The Francis Crick Institute, Mill Hill Laboratory, Mill Hill, London NW7 1AA, UK Laboratory of Malaria and Vector Research, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Rockville, MD 20852, USA
| | - Christiaan van Ooij
- The Francis Crick Institute, Mill Hill Laboratory, Mill Hill, London NW7 1AA, UK
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38
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Moris P, Jongert E, van der Most RG. Characterization of T-cell immune responses in clinical trials of the candidate RTS,S malaria vaccine. Hum Vaccin Immunother 2017; 14:17-27. [PMID: 28934066 PMCID: PMC5791571 DOI: 10.1080/21645515.2017.1381809] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
The candidate malaria vaccine RTS,S has demonstrated 45.7% efficacy over 18 months against all clinical disease in a phase-III field study of African children. RTS,S targets the circumsporozoite protein (CSP), which is expressed on the Plasmodium sporozoite during the pre-erythrocyte stage of its life-cycle; the stage between mosquito bite and liver infection. Early in the development of RTS,S, it was recognized that CSP-specific cell-mediated immunity (CMI) was required to complement CSP-specific antibody-mediated immunity. In reviewing RTS,S clinical studies, associations between protection and various types of CMI (CSP-specific CD4+ T cells and INF-γ ELISPOTs) have been identified, but not consistently. It is plausible that certain CD4+ T cells support antibody responses or co-operate with other immune-cell types to potentially elicit protection. However, the identities of vaccine correlates of protection, implicating either CSP-specific antibodies or T cells remain elusive, suggesting that RTS,S clinical trials may benefit from additional immunogenicity analyses that can be informed by the results of controlled human malaria infection studies.
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Nyboer B, Heiss K, Mueller AK, Ingmundson A. The Plasmodium liver-stage parasitophorous vacuole: A front-line of communication between parasite and host. Int J Med Microbiol 2017; 308:107-117. [PMID: 28964681 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijmm.2017.09.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2017] [Revised: 08/19/2017] [Accepted: 09/11/2017] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The intracellular development and differentiation of the Plasmodium parasite in the host liver is a prerequisite for the actual onset of malaria disease pathology. Since liver-stage infection is clinically silent and can be completely eliminated by sterilizing immune responses, it is a promising target for urgently needed innovative antimalarial drugs and/or vaccines. Discovered more than 65 years ago, these stages remain poorly understood regarding their molecular repertoire and interaction with their host cells in comparison to the pathogenic erythrocytic stages. The differentiating and replicative intrahepatic parasite resides in a membranous compartment called the parasitophorous vacuole, separating it from the host-cell cytoplasm. Here we outline seminal work that contributed to our present understanding of the fundamental dynamic cellular processes of the intrahepatic malarial parasite with both specific host-cell factors and compartments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Britta Nyboer
- Centre for Infectious Diseases, Parasitology, University Hospital Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 324, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Kirsten Heiss
- Centre for Infectious Diseases, Parasitology, University Hospital Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 324, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany; Centre for Infection Research (DZIF), D 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Ann-Kristin Mueller
- Centre for Infectious Diseases, Parasitology, University Hospital Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 324, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany; Centre for Infection Research (DZIF), D 69120 Heidelberg, Germany,.
| | - Alyssa Ingmundson
- Department of Molecular Parasitology, Institute of Biology, Humboldt University Berlin, Philippstrasse 13, 10115 Berlin, Germany.
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Zeng W, Wu C, Wang J, Cao L, Jin X, Zhu J, Lu X. Toxicologic evaluations of recombinant liver-targeting interferon IFN-CSP: Genotoxicity and tegenicratoity. Regul Toxicol Pharmacol 2017; 89:13-19. [PMID: 28709686 DOI: 10.1016/j.yrtph.2017.07.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/13/2016] [Revised: 05/11/2017] [Accepted: 07/06/2017] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Abstract
Interferon alpha as the one of FDA recommended drugs for Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection has many side effects. Targeting IFNα to the liver may be a strategy to increase its efficacy locally and may increase efficacy of IFNα-based therapy of HBV infection. We have prepared a novel liver-targeting fusion interferon (IFN-CSP) combining IFN α2b with plasmodium region I peptide and have revealed it may be an excellent candidate as a liver-targeting anti-HBV agent. In this study, we investigated the genotoxic and teratogenic effects of IFN-CSP. The genotoxicity of IFN-CSP was evaluated by using a standard battery of tests (bacterial reverse mutation assay, mouse bone marrow micronucleus assay, and mouse sperm malformation assay). The results showed that IFN-CSP did not increase the number of revertant colonies in the plates of four strains, had no marked effect on the incidence of mouse bone marrow micronucleus and did not affect sperm deformity proportion at doses up to 8.8 × 108IU/kg, which was 1128.2 folds of the maximum' clinical equivalent dosage. Meanwhile, for teratogenicity test of IFN-CSP in female SD rats at the dosage of 6.3 × 107 IU/kg, no toxicological signs were observed. These results indicated that IFN-CSP has no genotoxicity and teratogenicity under the testing conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wenting Zeng
- School of Basic Courses, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, 280 Wai Huan Dong Road, Guangzhou Higher Education Mega Center, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China; Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Bioactive Substances, 280 Wai Huan Dong Road, Guangzhou Higher Education Mega Center, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China
| | - Chunxu Wu
- School of Basic Courses, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, 280 Wai Huan Dong Road, Guangzhou Higher Education Mega Center, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China; Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Bioactive Substances, 280 Wai Huan Dong Road, Guangzhou Higher Education Mega Center, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China
| | - Jie Wang
- School of Basic Courses, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, 280 Wai Huan Dong Road, Guangzhou Higher Education Mega Center, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China; Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Bioactive Substances, 280 Wai Huan Dong Road, Guangzhou Higher Education Mega Center, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China
| | - Lingjie Cao
- School of Basic Courses, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, 280 Wai Huan Dong Road, Guangzhou Higher Education Mega Center, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China; Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Bioactive Substances, 280 Wai Huan Dong Road, Guangzhou Higher Education Mega Center, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China
| | - Xiaobao Jin
- School of Basic Courses, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, 280 Wai Huan Dong Road, Guangzhou Higher Education Mega Center, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China; Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Bioactive Substances, 280 Wai Huan Dong Road, Guangzhou Higher Education Mega Center, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China
| | - Jiayong Zhu
- School of Basic Courses, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, 280 Wai Huan Dong Road, Guangzhou Higher Education Mega Center, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China; Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Bioactive Substances, 280 Wai Huan Dong Road, Guangzhou Higher Education Mega Center, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China.
| | - Xuemei Lu
- School of Basic Courses, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, 280 Wai Huan Dong Road, Guangzhou Higher Education Mega Center, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China; Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Bioactive Substances, 280 Wai Huan Dong Road, Guangzhou Higher Education Mega Center, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China.
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A Prime/Boost PfCS14K M/MVA-sPfCS M Vaccination Protocol Generates Robust CD8 + T Cell and Antibody Responses to Plasmodium falciparum Circumsporozoite Protein and Protects Mice against Malaria. CLINICAL AND VACCINE IMMUNOLOGY : CVI 2017; 24:CVI.00494-16. [PMID: 28298290 DOI: 10.1128/cvi.00494-16] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2016] [Accepted: 03/07/2017] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Vaccines against the preerythrocytic stages of malaria are appealing because the parasite can be eliminated before disease onset and because they offer the unique possibility of targeting the parasite with both antibodies and T cells. Although the role of CD8+ T cells in preerythrocytic malaria stages is well documented, a highly effective T cell-inducing vaccine remains to be advanced. Here we report the development of a prime-boost immunization regimen with the Plasmodium falciparum circumsporozoite protein (PfCS) fused to the oligomer-forming vaccinia virus A27 protein and a modified vaccinia virus Ankara (MVA) vector expressing PfCS. This protocol induced polyfunctional CD8+ T cells with an effector memory phenotype and high PfCS antibody levels. These immune responses correlated with inhibition of liver-stage parasitemia in 80% and sterile protection in 40% of mice challenged with a transgenic P. berghei parasite line that expressed PfCS. Our findings underscore the potential of T and B cell immunization strategies for improving protective effectiveness against malaria.
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Zhang X, Zhao X, Luckanagul JA, Yan J, Nie Y, Lee LA, Wang Q. Polymer-Protein Core-Shell Nanoparticles for Enhanced Antigen Immunogenicity. ACS Macro Lett 2017; 6:442-446. [PMID: 35610867 DOI: 10.1021/acsmacrolett.7b00049] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
Nanoengineered vaccine platforms can be modeled after viruses and other pathogens with highly organized and repetitive structures that trigger the host immune system. Here we demonstrated a pyridine-grafted poly(ε-caprolactone)-based polymer-protein core-shell nanoparticles (PPCS-NPs) platform can effectively trigger the host immune system and lead to significantly higher antibody titers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaolei Zhang
- Department
of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina 29208, United States
- MicroSep Biological
Science Co. Ltd., Wuxi, Jiangsu 214400, People’s Republic of China
| | - Xia Zhao
- State
Key Laboratory of Polymer Physics and Chemistry, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun 130022, People’s Republic of China
| | - Jittima Amie Luckanagul
- Department
of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina 29208, United States
- Department
of Pharmaceutics and Industrial Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chulalongkorn University, 254 Phayathai Road, Bangkok, 10330, Thailand
| | - Jing Yan
- Department
of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina 29208, United States
| | - Yuzhe Nie
- Department
of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina 29208, United States
- Department
of Life Science, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, Heilongjiang 150040, People’s Republic of China
| | - L. Andrew Lee
- Department
of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina 29208, United States
| | - Qian Wang
- Department
of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina 29208, United States
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43
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López C, Yepes-Pérez Y, Hincapié-Escobar N, Díaz-Arévalo D, Patarroyo MA. What Is Known about the Immune Response Induced by Plasmodium vivax Malaria Vaccine Candidates? Front Immunol 2017; 8:126. [PMID: 28243235 PMCID: PMC5304258 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2017.00126] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/05/2016] [Accepted: 01/25/2017] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Malaria caused by Plasmodium vivax continues being one of the most important infectious diseases around the world; P. vivax is the second most prevalent species and has the greatest geographic distribution. Developing an effective antimalarial vaccine is considered a relevant control strategy in the search for means of preventing the disease. Studying parasite-expressed proteins, which are essential in host cell invasion, has led to identifying the regions recognized by individuals who are naturally exposed to infection. Furthermore, immunogenicity studies have revealed that such regions can trigger a robust immune response that can inhibit sporozoite (hepatic stage) or merozoite (erythrocyte stage) invasion of a host cell and induce protection. This review provides a synthesis of the most important studies to date concerning the antigenicity and immunogenicity of both synthetic peptide and recombinant protein candidates for a vaccine against malaria produced by P. vivax.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carolina López
- Molecular Biology and Immunology Department, Fundación Instituto de Immunología de Colombia (FIDIC), Bogotá, Colombia; PhD Programme in Biomedical and Biological Sciences, Universidad del Rosario, Bogotá, Colombia
| | - Yoelis Yepes-Pérez
- Molecular Biology and Immunology Department, Fundación Instituto de Immunología de Colombia (FIDIC), Bogotá, Colombia; MSc Programme in Microbiology, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia
| | - Natalia Hincapié-Escobar
- Molecular Biology and Immunology Department, Fundación Instituto de Immunología de Colombia (FIDIC) , Bogotá , Colombia
| | - Diana Díaz-Arévalo
- Molecular Biology and Immunology Department, Fundación Instituto de Immunología de Colombia (FIDIC), Bogotá, Colombia; Universidad de Ciencias Aplicadas y Ambientales (UDCA), Bogotá, Colombia
| | - Manuel A Patarroyo
- Molecular Biology and Immunology Department, Fundación Instituto de Immunología de Colombia (FIDIC), Bogotá, Colombia; Basic Sciences Department, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universidad del Rosario, Bogotá, Colombia
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44
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Patarroyo ME, Alba MP, Rojas-Luna R, Bermudez A, Aza-Conde J. Functionally relevant proteins in Plasmodium falciparum host cell invasion. Immunotherapy 2017; 9:131-155. [DOI: 10.2217/imt-2016-0091] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
A totally effective, antimalarial vaccine must involve sporozoite and merozoite proteins (or their fragments) to ensure complete parasite blocking during critical invasion stages. This Special Report examines proteins involved in critical biological functions for parasite survival and highlights the conserved amino acid sequences of the most important proteins involved in sporozoite invasion of hepatocytes and merozoite invasion of red blood cells. Conserved high activity binding peptides are located in such proteins’ functionally strategic sites, whose functions are related to receptor binding, nutrient and protein transport, enzyme activity and molecule–molecule interactions. They are thus excellent targets for vaccine development as they block proteins binding function involved in invasion and also their biological function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Manuel E Patarroyo
- Fundación Instituto de Inmunología de Colombia (FIDIC), Carrera 50 No. 26–20 Bogotá, Colombia
- Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá DC, Colombia
| | - Martha P Alba
- Fundación Instituto de Inmunología de Colombia (FIDIC), Carrera 50 No. 26–20 Bogotá, Colombia
- Universidad de Ciencias Aplicadas y Ambientales (UDCA), Bogotá, Colombia
| | - Rocío Rojas-Luna
- Fundación Instituto de Inmunología de Colombia (FIDIC), Carrera 50 No. 26–20 Bogotá, Colombia
| | - Adriana Bermudez
- Fundación Instituto de Inmunología de Colombia (FIDIC), Carrera 50 No. 26–20 Bogotá, Colombia
- Universidad del Rosario, Bogotá DC, Colombia
| | - Jorge Aza-Conde
- Fundación Instituto de Inmunología de Colombia (FIDIC), Carrera 50 No. 26–20 Bogotá, Colombia
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45
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Jaijyan DK, Verma PK, Singh AP. A novel FIKK kinase regulates the development of mosquito and liver stages of the malaria. Sci Rep 2016; 6:39285. [PMID: 27995998 PMCID: PMC5172157 DOI: 10.1038/srep39285] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2016] [Accepted: 11/22/2016] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Protein phosphorylation is the most important post-translational event in the regulation of various essential signaling pathways in a cell. Here, we show the functional characterization of a FIKK family protein kinase of the rodent malaria parasite (PbMLFK), which is expressed only in mosquito and liver stages and contains two functional C-terminal PEXEL motifs. We demonstrate that this protein plays a role in mosquito and liver stages of parasite growth. The oocysts of PbMLFK-deficient parasites produced 4-fold fewer sporozoites. In the liver of infected mice, PbMLFK-deficient parasites grew 100-fold less than did wild type parasites. We also show that the C-terminal domain of this protein has a functional serine-threonine kinase and that its activity was inhibited by a known PKA inhibitor. Transcriptome analysis of infected host cells suggests that in absence of this protein expression of the 288 host mRNAs are perturbed which are primarily associated with the immune system, cell cycle and metabolism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dabbu Kumar Jaijyan
- Infectious Diseases Laboratory, National Institute of Immunology, Aruna Asaf Ali Marg, New Delhi-110067, India
| | - Praveen Kumar Verma
- Plant Immunity Laboratory, National Institute of Plant Genome Research, Aruna Asaf Ali Marg, New Delhi-110067, India
| | - Agam Prasad Singh
- Infectious Diseases Laboratory, National Institute of Immunology, Aruna Asaf Ali Marg, New Delhi-110067, India
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46
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Zhao C, Liu T, Zhou T, Fu Y, Zheng H, Ding Y, Zhang K, Xu W. The rodent malaria liver stage survives in the rapamycin-induced autophagosome of infected Hepa1-6 cells. Sci Rep 2016; 6:38170. [PMID: 27901110 PMCID: PMC5128998 DOI: 10.1038/srep38170] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/10/2015] [Accepted: 11/07/2016] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
It has been reported that non-selective autophagy of infected hepatocytes could facilitate the development of malaria in the liver stage, but the fate of parasites following selective autophagy of infected hepatocytes is still not very clear. Here, we confirmed that sporozoite infection can induce a selective autophagy-like process targeting EEFs (exo-erythrocytic forms) in Hepa1–6. Rapamycin treatment greatly enhanced this process in EEFs and non-selective autophagy of infected Hepa1-6 cells and enhanced the development of the malaria liver stage in vivo. Although rapamycin promoted the fusion of autophagosomes containing the malaria parasite with lysosomes, some parasites inside the autophagosome survived and replicated normally. Further study showed that the maturation of affected autolysosomes was greatly inhibited. Therefore, in addition to the previously described positive role of rapamycin-induced nonselective autophagy of hepatocytes, we provide evidence that the survival of EEFs in the autophagosome of the infected hepatocytes also contributes to rapamycin-enhanced development of the malaria liver stage, possibly due to the suppression of autolysosome maturation by EEFs. These data suggest that the inhibition of autolysosome maturation might be a novel escape strategy used by the malaria liver stage.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chenghao Zhao
- Department of Pathogenic Biology, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, 400038, P. R. China.,Department of Microbiology, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, 400038, P. R. China
| | - Taiping Liu
- Department of Pathogenic Biology, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, 400038, P. R. China
| | - Taoli Zhou
- Department of Pathogenic Biology, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, 400038, P. R. China
| | - Yong Fu
- Department of Pathogenic Biology, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, 400038, P. R. China
| | - Hong Zheng
- Department of Pathogenic Biology, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, 400038, P. R. China
| | - Yan Ding
- Department of Pathogenic Biology, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, 400038, P. R. China
| | - Kun Zhang
- Department of Pathogenic Biology, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, 400038, P. R. China
| | - Wenyue Xu
- Department of Pathogenic Biology, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, 400038, P. R. China
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47
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Singer M, Frischknecht F. Time for Genome Editing: Next-Generation Attenuated Malaria Parasites. Trends Parasitol 2016; 33:202-213. [PMID: 27793562 DOI: 10.1016/j.pt.2016.09.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/15/2016] [Revised: 09/20/2016] [Accepted: 09/26/2016] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
Immunization with malaria parasites that developmentally arrest in or immediately after the liver stage is the only way currently known to confer sterilizing immunity in both humans and rodent models. There are various ways to attenuate parasite development resulting in different timings of arrest, which has a significant impact on vaccination efficiency. To understand what most impacts vaccination efficiency, newly developed gain-of-function methods can now be used to generate a wide array of differently attenuated parasites. The combination of multiple attenuation approaches offers the potential to engineer efficiently attenuated Plasmodium parasites and learn about their fascinating biology at the same time. Here we discuss recent studies and the potential of targeted parasite manipulation using genome editing to develop live attenuated malaria vaccines.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mirko Singer
- Integrative Parasitology, Center for Infectious Diseases, University of Heidelberg Medical School, Im Neuenheimer Feld 324, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany.
| | - Friedrich Frischknecht
- Integrative Parasitology, Center for Infectious Diseases, University of Heidelberg Medical School, Im Neuenheimer Feld 324, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany.
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48
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Noon JB, Qi M, Sill DN, Muppirala U, Eves-van den Akker S, Maier TR, Dobbs D, Mitchum MG, Hewezi T, Baum TJ. A Plasmodium-like virulence effector of the soybean cyst nematode suppresses plant innate immunity. THE NEW PHYTOLOGIST 2016; 212:444-60. [PMID: 27265684 DOI: 10.1111/nph.14047] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2016] [Accepted: 05/04/2016] [Indexed: 05/19/2023]
Abstract
Heterodera glycines, the soybean cyst nematode, delivers effector proteins into soybean roots to initiate and maintain an obligate parasitic relationship. HgGLAND18 encodes a candidate H. glycines effector and is expressed throughout the infection process. We used a combination of molecular, genetic, bioinformatic and phylogenetic analyses to determine the role of HgGLAND18 during H. glycines infection. HgGLAND18 is necessary for pathogenicity in compatible interactions with soybean. The encoded effector strongly suppresses both basal and hypersensitive cell death innate immune responses, and immunosuppression requires the presence and coordination between multiple protein domains. The N-terminal domain in HgGLAND18 contains unique sequence similarity to domains of an immunosuppressive effector of Plasmodium spp., the malaria parasites. The Plasmodium effector domains functionally complement the loss of the N-terminal domain from HgGLAND18. In-depth sequence searches and phylogenetic analyses demonstrate convergent evolution between effectors from divergent parasites of plants and animals as the cause of sequence and functional similarity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jason B Noon
- Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, 50011, USA
| | - Mingsheng Qi
- Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, 50011, USA
| | - Danielle N Sill
- Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, 50011, USA
| | - Usha Muppirala
- Genome Informatics Facility, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, 50011, USA
| | | | - Thomas R Maier
- Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, 50011, USA
| | - Drena Dobbs
- Department of Genetics, Development and Cell Biology, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, 50011, USA
| | - Melissa G Mitchum
- Division of Plant Sciences and Bond Life Sciences Center, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, 65211, USA
| | - Tarek Hewezi
- Department of Plant Sciences, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, 37996, USA
| | - Thomas J Baum
- Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, 50011, USA.
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49
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Puzzling and ambivalent roles of malarial infections in cancer development and progression. Parasitology 2016; 143:1811-1823. [DOI: 10.1017/s0031182016001591] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
SUMMARYScientific evidence strongly suggests that parasites are directly or indirectly associated with carcinogenesis in humans. However, studies have also indicated that parasites or their products might confer resistance to tumour growth.Plasmodiumprotozoa, the causative agents of malaria, exemplify the ambivalent link between parasites and cancer. Positive relationships between malaria and virus-associated cancers are relatively well-documented; for example, malaria can reactivate the Epstein-Barr Virus, which is the known cause of endemic Burkitt lymphoma. Nevertheless, possible anti-tumour properties of malaria have also been reported and, interestingly, this disease has long been thought to be beneficial to patients suffering from cancers. Current knowledge of the potential pro- and anti-cancer roles of malaria suggests that, contrary to other eukaryotic parasites affecting humans,Plasmodium-related cancers are principally lymphoproliferative disorders and attributable to virus reactivation, whereas, similar to other eukaryotic parasites, the anti-tumour effects of malaria are primarily associated with carcinomas and certain sarcomas. Moreover, malarial infection significantly suppresses murine cancer growth by inducing both innate and specific adaptive anti-tumour responses. This review aims to present an update regarding the ambivalent association between malaria and cancer, and further studies may open future pathways to develop novel strategies for anti-cancer therapies.
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50
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Ruivo MTG, Vera IM, Sales-Dias J, Meireles P, Gural N, Bhatia SN, Mota MM, Mancio-Silva L. Host AMPK Is a Modulator of Plasmodium Liver Infection. Cell Rep 2016; 16:2539-2545. [PMID: 27568570 PMCID: PMC5014760 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2016.08.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2015] [Revised: 04/20/2016] [Accepted: 07/28/2016] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Manipulation of the master regulator of energy homeostasis AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) activity is a strategy used by many intracellular pathogens for successful replication. Infection by most pathogens leads to an activation of host AMPK activity due to the energetic demands placed on the infected cell. Here, we demonstrate that the opposite is observed in cells infected with rodent malaria parasites. Indeed, AMPK activity upon the infection of hepatic cells is suppressed and dispensable for successful infection. By contrast, an overactive AMPK is deleterious to intracellular growth and replication of different Plasmodium spp., including the human malaria parasite, P. falciparum. The negative impact of host AMPK activity on infection was further confirmed in mice under conditions that activate its function. Overall, this work establishes the role of host AMPK signaling as a suppressive pathway of Plasmodium hepatic infection and as a potential target for host-based antimalarial interventions. Plasmodium-infected hepatic cells exhibit decreased AMPK activity AMPK suppression favors hepatic infection; its activation reduces parasite development AMPK activating compounds efficiently reduce liver infection in vitro and in vivo
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Affiliation(s)
- Margarida T Grilo Ruivo
- Instituto de Medicina Molecular, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Lisboa, 1649-028 Lisboa, Portugal
| | - Iset Medina Vera
- Instituto de Medicina Molecular, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Lisboa, 1649-028 Lisboa, Portugal
| | - Joana Sales-Dias
- Instituto de Medicina Molecular, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Lisboa, 1649-028 Lisboa, Portugal
| | - Patrícia Meireles
- Instituto de Medicina Molecular, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Lisboa, 1649-028 Lisboa, Portugal
| | - Nil Gural
- Department of Health Sciences and Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA
| | - Sangeeta N Bhatia
- Department of Health Sciences and Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA
| | - Maria M Mota
- Instituto de Medicina Molecular, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Lisboa, 1649-028 Lisboa, Portugal.
| | - Liliana Mancio-Silva
- Instituto de Medicina Molecular, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Lisboa, 1649-028 Lisboa, Portugal.
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