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Application of Light-Sheet Mesoscopy to Image Host-Pathogen Interactions in Intact Organs.

ABSTRACT: Human African Trypanosomiasis (HAT) is a disease caused by the extracellular parasite Trypanosoma brucei that affects the central nervous system (CNS) during the chronic stage of the infection, inducing neuroinflammation, coma, and death if left untreated. However, little is known about the structural change happening in the brain as result of the infection. So far, infection-induced neuroinflammation has been observed with conventional methods, such as immunohistochemistry, electron microscopy, and 2-photon microscopy only in small portions of the brain, which may not be representative of the disease. In this paper, we have used a newly-developed light-sheet illuminator to image the level of neuroinflammation in chronically infected mice and compared it to naïve controls. This system was developed for imaging in combination with the Mesolens objective lens, providing fast sub-cellular resolution for tens of mm³-large imaging volumes. The mouse brain specimens were cleared using CUBIC+, followed by antibody staining to locate Glial Fibrillary Acid Protein (GFAP) expressing cells, primarily astrocytes and ependymocytes, used here as a proxy for cell reactivity and gliosis. The large capture volume allowed us to detect GFAP⁺ cells and spatially resolve the response to T. brucei infection. Based on morphometric analyses and spatial distribution of GFAP⁺ cells, our data demonstrates a significant increase in cell dendrite branching around the lateral ventricle, as well as dorsal and ventral third ventricles, that are negatively correlated with the branch extension in distal sites from the circumventricular spaces. To our knowledge, this is the first report highlighting the potential of light-sheet mesoscopy to characterise the inflammatory responses of the mouse brain to parasitic infection at the cellular level in intact cleared organs, opening new avenues for the development of new mesoscale imaging techniques for the study of host-pathogen interactions.

SUBMITTER: Battistella E

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9237429 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:Aspergillus fumigatus is an opportunistic fungal pathogen that can cause life-threatening invasive lung infections in immunodeficient patients. The cellular and molecular processes of infection during onset, establishment, and progression of A. fumigatus infections are highly complex and depend on both fungal attributes and the immune status of the host. Therefore, preclinical animal models are of paramount importance to investigate and gain better insight into the infection process. Yet, despite their extensive use, commonly employed murine models of invasive pulmonary aspergillosis are not well understood due to analytical limitations. Here, we present quantitative light sheet fluorescence microscopy (LSFM) to describe fungal growth and the local immune response in whole lungs at cellular resolution within its anatomical context. We analyzed three very common murine models of pulmonary aspergillosis based on immunosuppression with corticosteroids, chemotherapy-induced leukopenia, or myeloablative irradiation. LSFM uncovered distinct architectures of fungal growth and degrees of tissue invasion in each model. Furthermore, LSFM revealed the spatial distribution, interaction, and activation of two key immune cell populations in antifungal defense: alveolar macrophages and polymorphonuclear neutrophils. Interestingly, the patterns of fungal growth correlated with the detected effects of the immunosuppressive regimens on the local immune cell populations. Moreover, LSFM demonstrates that the commonly used intranasal route of spore administration did not result in complete intra-alveolar deposition, as about 80% of fungal growth occurred outside the alveolar space. Hence, characterization by LSFM is more rigorous than by previously used methods employing murine models of invasive pulmonary aspergillosis and pinpoints their strengths and limitations.IMPORTANCE The use of animal models of infection is essential to advance our understanding of the complex host-pathogen interactions that take place during Aspergillus fumigatus lung infections. As in the case of humans, mice need to suffer an immune imbalance in order to become susceptible to invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA), the most serious infection caused by A. fumigatus There are several immunosuppressive regimens that are routinely used to investigate fungal growth and/or immune responses in murine models of invasive pulmonary aspergillosis. However, the precise consequences of the use of each immunosuppressive model for the local immune populations and for fungal growth are not completely understood. Here, to pin down the scenarios involving commonly used IPA models, we employed light sheet fluorescence microscopy (LSFM) to analyze whole lungs at cellular resolution. Our results will be valuable to optimize and refine animal models to maximize their use in future research.

Project description:The goal of this project is to understand the etiology and pathology of host-pathogen interaction using high-throughput cellular phenotyping. By combining the expertise in pathogen biology, informatics and stem cell biology across the institute, this project will use targeted genetic modification in mouse embryonic stem cells to identify functions of host genes in innate immunity. We will also explore the biology of mouse embryonic stem cells and their differentiation into immune competent cells. To this end we will generate homozygous and inducible knockout lines in mouse embryonic stem cells, which will be differentiated into immune competent cells, such as macrophages or dendritic cells. These will be subjected to a panel of immune challenge and stimulation assays to characterise the functions of the disrupted genes. To identify new functions for mammalian genes in innate immunity we will:\Generate a panel of homozygous inducible gene knockout mouse ES cell lines working from a list of ca. 80 candidate genes (MGP phenotyping and GWAS hits). \Scale up differentiation protocols for immune challenge and stimulation assays.\Benchmark in vitro differentiated ES cell models against primary immune cells from selected MGP mouse lines and eventually against human iPS cells.\Screen a panel of 30 genetically modified cell lines in immunological challenge and stimulation assays, defining phenotypes at the cellular level by high content imaging, biochemically by assaying cytokine production, and at the molecular level by transcriptome analysis.\Define novel gene functions in innate immunity through network analysis of gene expression data from all challenged cell lines.\In the longer term scale up the production and phenotyping of genetically modified cell lines (mouse or human as appropriate).This data is part of a pre-publication release. For information on the proper use of pre-publication data shared by the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute (including details of any publication moratoria), please see http://www.sanger.ac.uk/datasharing/

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Application of Light-Sheet Mesoscopy to Image Host-Pathogen Interactions in Intact Organs.

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