One minute ultraviolet exposure inhibits Toxoplasma gondii tachyzoite replication and cyst conversion without diminishing host humoral-mediated immune response.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Kannan G
PROVIDER: S-EPMC4435842 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Oct
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Publications
One minute ultraviolet exposure inhibits Toxoplasma gondii tachyzoite replication and cyst conversion without diminishing host humoral-mediated immune response.
Kannan Geetha G Prandovszky Emese E Steinfeldt Curtis B CB Gressitt Kristin L KL Yang ChunXia C Yolken Robert H RH Severance Emily G EG Jones-Brando Lorraine L Pletnikov Mikhail V MV
Experimental parasitology 20140814
We developed a protocol to inactivate Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) tachyzoites employing 1 min of ultraviolet (UV) exposure. We show that this treatment completely inhibited parasite replication and cyst formation in vitro and in vivo but did not affect the induction of a robust IgG response in mice. We propose that our protocol can be used to study the contribution of the humoral immune response to rodent behavioral alterations following T. gondii infection. ...[more]
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| S-EPMC97909 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Toxoplasma gondii is an intracellular parasite with a significant impact on human health, especially in cases where individuals are immunocompromised (e.g., due to HIV/AIDS). In Europe and North America only a few clonal genotypes appear to be responsible for the vast majority of Toxoplasma infections, and these clonotypes have been intensely studied to identify strain-specific phenotypes that may play a role in the manifestation of more severe disease. To identify and genetically map strain-specific differences in gene expression, we have carried out expression quantitative trait locus (eQTL) analysis on Toxoplasma gene expression phenotypes using spotted cDNA microarrays. This led to the identification of 16 Toxoplasma genes that had significant and mappable strain-specific variation in hybridization intensity. While the analysis should identify both cis and trans-mapping hybridization profiles, we only identified loci with strain-specific hybridization differences that are most likely due to differences in the locus itself (i.e., cis-mapping). Interestingly, a larger number of these cis-mapping genes than would be expected by chance encode either confirmed or predicted secreted proteins, many of which are known to localize to the specialized secretory organelles characteristic of members of the phylum Apicomplexa. For 6 of the cis-mapping loci we determined if the strain-specific hybridization differences were due to true transcriptional differences or rather strain-specific differences in hybridization efficiency because of extreme polymorphism and/or deletion, and we found examples of both scenarios. Keywords: eQTL mapping; virulence; Toxoplasma gondii 19 F1 progeny from a cross between a type II parent (PDS) and a type III parent (CTG) were used in RNA hybridizations to identify cis and trans-mapping loci regulating gene expression
2008-05-22 | E-GEOD-11514 | biostudies-arrayexpress
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Project description:BackgroundcAMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA) has been implicated in the asexual stage of the Toxoplasma gondii life cycle through assaying the effect of a PKA-specific inhibitor on its growth rate. Since inhibition of the host cell PKA cannot be ruled out, a more precise evaluation of the role of PKA, as well as characterization of the kinase itself, is necessary.Methodology/principal findingThe inhibitory effects of two PKA inhibitors, H89, an ATP-competitive chemical inhibitor, and PKI, a substrate-competitive mammalian natural peptide inhibitor, were estimated. In the in vitro kinase assay, the inhibitory effect of PKI on a recombinant T. gondii PKA catalytic subunit (TgPKA-C) was weaker compared to that on mammalian PKA-C. In a tachyzoite growth assay, PKI had little effect on the growth of tachyzoites, whereas H89 strongly inhibited it. Moreover, T. gondii PKA regulatory subunit (TgPKA-R)-overexpressing tachyzoites showed a significant growth defect.Conclusions/significanceOur data suggest that PKA plays an important role in the growth of tachyzoites, and the inhibitory effect of substrate-competitive inhibitor PKI on T. gondii PKA was low compared to that of the ATP competitive inhibitor H89.
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| S-EPMC3294449 | biostudies-other