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Nikulkova M, Abdrabou W, Carlton JM, Idaghdour Y. Exploiting integrative metabolomics to study host-parasite interactions in Plasmodium infections. Trends Parasitol 2024; 40:313-323. [PMID: 38508901 PMCID: PMC10994734 DOI: 10.1016/j.pt.2024.02.007] [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: 11/29/2023] [Revised: 02/15/2024] [Accepted: 02/16/2024] [Indexed: 03/22/2024]
Abstract
Despite years of research, malaria remains a significant global health burden, with poor diagnostic tests and increasing antimalarial drug resistance challenging diagnosis and treatment. While 'single-omics'-based approaches have been instrumental in gaining insight into the biology and pathogenicity of the Plasmodium parasite and its interaction with the human host, a more comprehensive understanding of malaria pathogenesis can be achieved through 'multi-omics' approaches. Integrative methods, which combine metabolomics, lipidomics, transcriptomics, and genomics datasets, offer a holistic systems biology approach to studying malaria. This review highlights recent advances, future directions, and challenges involved in using integrative metabolomics approaches to interrogate the interactions between Plasmodium and the human host, paving the way towards targeted antimalaria therapeutics and control intervention methods.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria Nikulkova
- Center for Genomics and Systems Biology, Department of Biology, New York University, New York, NY 11101, USA; Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute, Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Wael Abdrabou
- Program in Biology, Division of Science and Mathematics, New York University, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
| | - Jane M Carlton
- Center for Genomics and Systems Biology, Department of Biology, New York University, New York, NY 11101, USA; Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute, Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA.
| | - Youssef Idaghdour
- Program in Biology, Division of Science and Mathematics, New York University, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
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Sengupta A, Ghosh S, Sharma S, Sonawat HM. Early Perturbations in Red Blood Cells in Response to Murine Malarial Parasite Infection: Proof-of-Concept 1H NMR Metabolomic Study. Life (Basel) 2023; 13:1684. [PMID: 37629541 PMCID: PMC10455252 DOI: 10.3390/life13081684] [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: 06/19/2023] [Revised: 07/27/2023] [Accepted: 07/31/2023] [Indexed: 08/27/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The major focus of metabolomics research has been confined to the readily available biofluids-urine and blood serum. However, red blood cells (RBCs) are also readily available, and may be a source of a wealth of information on vertebrates. However, the comprehensive metabolomic characterization of RBCs is minimal although they exhibit perturbations in various physiological states. RBCs act as the host of malarial parasites during the symptomatic stage. Thus, understanding the changes in RBC metabolism during infection is crucial for a better understanding of disease progression. METHODS The metabolome of normal RBCs obtained from Swiss mice was investigated using 1H NMR spectroscopy. Several 1 and 2-dimensional 1H NMR experiments were employed for this purpose. The information from this study was used to investigate the changes in the RBC metabolome during the early stage of infection (~1% infected RBCs) by Plasmodium bergheii ANKA. RESULTS We identified over 40 metabolites in RBCs. Several of these metabolites were quantitated using 1H NMR spectroscopy. The results indicate changes in the choline/membrane components and other metabolites during the early stage of malaria. CONCLUSIONS The paper reports the comprehensive characterization of the metabolome of mouse RBCs. Changes during the early stage of malarial infection suggest significant metabolic alteration, even at low parasite content (~1%). GENERAL SIGNIFICANCE This study should be of use in maximizing the amount of information available from metabolomic experiments on the cellular components of blood. The technique can be directly applied to real-time investigation of infectious diseases that target RBCs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Arjun Sengupta
- Department of Chemical Sciences, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Homi Bhabha Road, Mumbai 400005, India; (S.G.); (H.M.S.)
| | - Soumita Ghosh
- Department of Chemical Sciences, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Homi Bhabha Road, Mumbai 400005, India; (S.G.); (H.M.S.)
| | - Shobhona Sharma
- Department of Biological Sciences, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Homi Bhabha Road, Mumbai 400005, India;
| | - Haripalsingh M. Sonawat
- Department of Chemical Sciences, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Homi Bhabha Road, Mumbai 400005, India; (S.G.); (H.M.S.)
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Urinary Metabolic Profiling in Volunteers Undergoing Malaria Challenge in Gabon. Metabolites 2022; 12:metabo12121224. [PMID: 36557262 PMCID: PMC9783708 DOI: 10.3390/metabo12121224] [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: 10/26/2022] [Revised: 11/21/2022] [Accepted: 12/01/2022] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The interaction of malaria parasites with their human host is extensively studied, yet only few studies reported how P. falciparum infection affects urinary metabolite profiles and how this is associated with immunity. We present a longitudinal study of the urinary metabolic profiles of twenty healthy Africans with lifelong exposure to malaria and five malaria-naïve Europeans, who were all challenged with direct venous inoculation of live P. falciparum sporozoïtes (PfSPZ) and followed up until they developed symptoms or became thick blood smear positive (TBS). Urine samples were collected before and at 2, 5, 9 and 11 days post challenge and were analysed. Upon infection, all Europeans became TBS positive, while Africans showed either a delay in time to parasitaemia or controlled infection. Our metabolic data showed that Europeans and Africans had distinct alterations in metabolite patterns, with changes mostly seen on days 5 and 9 post PfSPZ infection, and more prominently in Europeans. Within the African group, the levels of formate, urea, trimethylamine, threonine, choline, myo-inositol and acetate were significantly higher in TBS positive whereas the levels of pyruvate, 3-methylhistidine and dimethylglycine were significantly lower in individuals who remained TBS negative. Notably, before inoculation with PfSPZ, a group of metabolites including phenylacetylglutamine can potentially be used to predict parasitaemia control among Africans. Taken together, this study highlights the difference in urinary metabolic changes in response to malaria infection as a consequence of lifelong exposure to malaria and that change detectable before challenge might predict the control of parasitaemia in malaria-endemic areas.
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Recent metabolomic developments for antimalarial drug discovery. Parasitol Res 2022; 121:3351-3380. [PMID: 36194273 DOI: 10.1007/s00436-022-07673-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/13/2022] [Accepted: 09/14/2022] [Indexed: 10/10/2022]
Abstract
Malaria is a parasitic disease that remains a global health issue, responsible for a significant death and morbidity toll. Various factors have impacted the use and delayed the development of antimalarial therapies, such as the associated financial cost and parasitic resistance. In order to discover new drugs and validate parasitic targets, a powerful omics tool, metabolomics, emerged as a reliable approach. However, as a fairly recent method in malaria, new findings are timely and original practices emerge frequently. This review aims to discuss recent research towards the development of new metabolomic methods in the context of uncovering antiplasmodial mechanisms of action in vitro and to point out innovative metabolic pathways that can revitalize the antimalarial pipeline.
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Das A, Sahu W, Ojha DK, Reddy KS, Suar M. Comparative Analysis of Host Metabolic Alterations in Murine Malaria Models with Uncomplicated or Severe Malaria. J Proteome Res 2022; 21:2261-2276. [PMID: 36169658 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jproteome.2c00123] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Malaria varies in severity, with complications ranging from uncomplicated to severe malaria. Severe malaria could be attributed to peripheral hyperparasitemia or cerebral malaria. The metabolic interactions between the host and Plasmodium species are yet to be understood during these infections of varied pathology and severity. An untargeted metabolomics approach utilizing the liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry platform has been used to identify the affected host metabolic pathways and associated metabolites in the serum of murine malaria models with uncomplicated malaria, hyperparasitemia, and experimental cerebral malaria. We report that mice with malaria share similar metabolic attributes like higher levels of bile acids, bile pigments, and steroid hormones that have been reported for human malaria infections. Moreover, in severe malaria, upregulated levels of metabolites like phenylalanine, histidine, valine, pipecolate, ornithine, and pantothenate, with decreased levels of arginine and hippurate, were observed. Metabolites of sphingolipid metabolism were upregulated in experimental cerebral malaria. Higher levels of 20-hydroxy-leukotriene B4 and epoxyoctadecamonoenoic acids were found in uncomplicated malaria, with lower levels observed for experimental cerebral malaria. Our study provides insights into host biology during different pathological stages of malaria disease and would be useful for the selection of animal models for evaluating diagnostic and therapeutic interventions against malaria. The raw data files are available via MetaboLights with the identifier MTBLS4387.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aleena Das
- School of Biotechnology, Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (Deemed University), Bhubaneswar751024, India.,Technology Business Incubator, Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (Deemed University), Bhubaneswar751024, India
| | - Welka Sahu
- School of Biotechnology, Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (Deemed University), Bhubaneswar751024, India
| | - Deepak Kumar Ojha
- School of Biotechnology, Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (Deemed University), Bhubaneswar751024, India
| | - K Sony Reddy
- School of Biotechnology, Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (Deemed University), Bhubaneswar751024, India
| | - Mrutyunjay Suar
- School of Biotechnology, Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (Deemed University), Bhubaneswar751024, India.,Technology Business Incubator, Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (Deemed University), Bhubaneswar751024, India
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Zhou M, Varol A, Efferth T. Multi-omics approaches to improve malaria therapy. Pharmacol Res 2021; 167:105570. [PMID: 33766628 DOI: 10.1016/j.phrs.2021.105570] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/18/2021] [Revised: 03/02/2021] [Accepted: 03/16/2021] [Indexed: 01/07/2023]
Abstract
Malaria contributes to the most widespread infectious diseases worldwide. Even though current drugs are commercially available, the ever-increasing drug resistance problem by malaria parasites poses new challenges in malaria therapy. Hence, searching for efficient therapeutic strategies is of high priority in malaria control. In recent years, multi-omics technologies have been extensively applied to provide a more holistic view of functional principles and dynamics of biological mechanisms. We briefly review multi-omics technologies and focus on recent malaria progress conducted with the help of various omics methods. Then, we present up-to-date advances for multi-omics approaches in malaria. Next, we describe resistance phenomena to established antimalarial drugs and underlying mechanisms. Finally, we provide insight into novel multi-omics approaches, new drugs and vaccine developments and analyze current gaps in multi-omics research. Although multi-omics approaches have been successfully used in malaria studies, they are still limited. Many gaps need to be filled to bridge the gap between basic research and treatment of malaria patients. Multi-omics approaches will foster a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms of Plasmodium that are essential for the development of novel drugs and vaccines to fight this disastrous disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Min Zhou
- Department of Pharmaceutical Biology, Institute of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences, Johannes Gutenberg University, Staudinger Weg 5, 55128 Mainz, Germany
| | - Ayşegül Varol
- Department of Pharmaceutical Biology, Institute of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences, Johannes Gutenberg University, Staudinger Weg 5, 55128 Mainz, Germany
| | - Thomas Efferth
- Department of Pharmaceutical Biology, Institute of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences, Johannes Gutenberg University, Staudinger Weg 5, 55128 Mainz, Germany.
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Yu X, Feng G, Zhang Q, Cao J. From Metabolite to Metabolome: Metabolomics Applications in Plasmodium Research. Front Microbiol 2021; 11:626183. [PMID: 33505389 PMCID: PMC7829456 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2020.626183] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/05/2020] [Accepted: 12/07/2020] [Indexed: 01/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Advances in research over the past few decades have greatly improved metabolomics-based approaches in studying parasite biology and disease etiology. This improves the investigation of varied metabolic requirements during life stages or when following transmission to their hosts, and fulfills the demand for improved diagnostics and precise therapeutics. Therefore, this review highlights the progress of metabolomics in malaria research, including metabolic mapping of Plasmodium vertebrate life cycle stages to investigate antimalarials mode of actions and underlying complex host-parasite interactions. Also, we discuss current limitations as well as make several practical suggestions for methodological improvements which could drive metabolomics progress for malaria from a comprehensive perspective.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xinyu Yu
- National Health Commission Key Laboratory of Parasitic Disease Control and Prevention, Jiangsu Provincial Key Laboratory on Parasite and Vector Control Technology, Jiangsu Institute of Parasitic Diseases, Wuxi, China.,Medical College of Soochow University, Suzhou, China
| | - Gaoqian Feng
- Burnet Institute, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.,Department of Medicine, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Qingfeng Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Arrhythmias of the Ministry of Education of China, Research Center for Translational Medicine, East Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
| | - Jun Cao
- National Health Commission Key Laboratory of Parasitic Disease Control and Prevention, Jiangsu Provincial Key Laboratory on Parasite and Vector Control Technology, Jiangsu Institute of Parasitic Diseases, Wuxi, China.,Center for Global Health, School of Public Health, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China
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Affiliation(s)
- Heather N. Colvin
- Department of Biology, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States of America
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States of America
| | - Regina Joice Cordy
- Department of Biology, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States of America
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States of America
- * E-mail:
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Early Perturbations in Glucose Utilization in Malaria-Infected Murine Erythrocytes, Liver and Brain Observed by Metabolomics. Metabolites 2020; 10:metabo10070277. [PMID: 32645891 PMCID: PMC7407383 DOI: 10.3390/metabo10070277] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/03/2020] [Revised: 07/02/2020] [Accepted: 07/06/2020] [Indexed: 01/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Investigation of glucose utilization during an infection is central to the study of energy metabolism. The heavy utilization of glucose by the malaria parasite, and the consequences of this process, have been investigated extensively. However, host glucose utilization during early infection has not been explored to date. In a first attempt, this article investigates the changes in the host glucose utilization in Balb/c mice infected with Plasmodium berghei ANKA using 13C-labeled glucose infusion followed by NMR spectroscopy. The results suggested significant alterations of liver, brain and red blood cell (RBC) glucose utilization during early infection when the parasitemia was <1%. At the pathway level, we observed a decrease in the shunt metabolite 2,3-bisphosphoglycerate in the RBCs. Glycolysis and pathways associated with it, along with fatty acid unsaturation, were altered in the liver. Significant changes were observed in the central carbon metabolic pathways in the brain. These results have implications in understanding the host physiology during early infection and pave the way for detailed flux analysis of the proposed perturbed pathways.
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Rosa BMG, Yang GZ. Portable Impedance Analyzer as a Rapid Screening Tool for Malaria: An Experimental Study With Culture and Blood Infected Samples by Early Forms of Plasmodium Falciparum. IEEE Trans Biomed Eng 2020; 67:3531-3541. [PMID: 32340933 DOI: 10.1109/tbme.2020.2990595] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
Infection by the parasite of malaria is a serious healthcare problem for populations residing primarily in tropical and subtropical countries. Early detection of the disease is essential to reduce both the mortality rate and spreading of the disease in the infected areas. Current methods for malaria diagnosis still rely on microscopic analysis of blood smears, which is a time-consuming and expensive process, in addition of requiring trained examiners to perform the analysis. In this paper, we introduce a novel fast screening tool for malaria based on a portable blood impedance analyzer. The simultaneous multi-tone injection of current and voltage detection of the device allow reducing the screening time (order of seconds) while enhancing the differences in impedance signal registered among frequencies to increase parasitemia level discrimination. We went further to demonstrate the possibility of directly applying the device on blood samples collected from volunteers to distinguish between infected and non-infected samples. Minimum parasitemia level discriminated was 0.0078% (or, equivalently 390 parasites/μl), which closely approaches the international standard set to 200 parasites/μl. Finally, we also show the frequency dependency of ring-synchronized and unsynchronized blood samples, which can constitute the basis for development of a point-of-care and laboratory-free method to distinguish different stages of malaria infection in economic stagnated communities.
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Joice Cordy R. Mining the Human Host Metabolome Toward an Improved Understanding of Malaria Transmission. Front Microbiol 2020; 11:164. [PMID: 32117175 PMCID: PMC7033509 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2020.00164] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2019] [Accepted: 01/23/2020] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
The big data movement has led to major advances in our ability to assess vast and complex datasets related to the host and parasite during malaria infection. While host and parasite genomics and transcriptomics are often the focus of many computational efforts in malaria research, metabolomics represents another big data type that has great promise for aiding our understanding of complex host-parasite interactions that lead to the transmission of malaria. Recent analyses of the complement of metabolites present in human blood, skin and breath suggest that host metabolites play a critical role in the transmission cycle of malaria. Volatile compounds released through breath and skin serve as attractants to mosquitoes, with malaria-infected hosts appearing to have unique profiles that further increase host attractiveness. Inside the host, fluctuations in the levels of certain metabolites in blood may trigger increased production of transmission-competent sexual stages (gametocytes), setting the stage for enhanced transmission of malaria from human to mosquito. Together, these recent discoveries suggest that metabolites of human blood, skin and breath play critical roles in malaria transmission. This review discusses recent advances in this area, with a focus on metabolites that have been identified to play a role in malaria transmission and methods that may lead to an improved understanding of malaria transmission.
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Affiliation(s)
- Regina Joice Cordy
- Department of Biology, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC, United States.,Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC, United States
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