In vitro production of cat-restricted Toxoplasma pre-sexual stages by epigenetic reprogramming [ChIP-seq]
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
ORGANISM(S): Toxoplasma gondii
PROVIDER: GSE222819 | GEO | 2023/09/16
REPOSITORIES: GEO
Similar Datasets
Project description:Here we show that AP2XII-1 and AP2XI-2, two transcription factors expressed in tachyzoites, a stage that causes acute toxoplasmosis, silence genes specific to merozoites, a developmental stage critical for sexual commitment and transmission to the next host, including humans. Their conditional and simultaneous depletion leads to a drastic change in the transcriptional program, promoting a complete transition from tachyzoites to merozoites. Pre-gametes produced in vitro are characterized by specific protein markers and undergo typical asexual endopolygenic division cycles. AP2XII-1 and AP2XI-2 bind DNA as heterodimers at merozoite promoters and recruit the epigenitors MORC and HDAC3, which in turn restrict the accessibility of chromatin to the transcriptional machinery.
2023-09-16 | GSE222832 | GEO
Project description:Sexual reproduction of Toxoplasma gondii, which is restricted to the small intestine of felids, is sparsely documented in studies involving domestic cats, which also raises ethical concerns. Chromatin modifiers dictate the developmental fate of the parasite during its multistage life cycle, but their targeting to stage-specific cistromes is poorly described. Here we show that AP2XII-1 and AP2XI-2, two transcription factors expressed in tachyzoites, a stage that causes acute toxoplasmosis, silence genes specific to merozoites, a developmental stage critical for sexual commitment and transmission to the next host, including humans. Their conditional and simultaneous depletion leads to a drastic change in the transcriptional program, promoting a complete transition from tachyzoites to merozoites, as revealed by mass spectrometry-based proteomic analyses of the parasites.
2023-09-16 | PXD039400 | Pride
Project description:Commitment to and completion of sexual development are essential for Toxoplasma gondii to produce oocysts in the intestine of the feline host. Understanding of the molecular mechanism responsible for sexual commitment is extremely limited due to the lack of model systems. Here, we show that the transcription factors AP2XI-2 and AP2XII-1 associated with the epigenetic repressors MORC/HDAC3 complex are constitutively expressed in both tachyzoite and bradyzoite stages but not in the merozoite stage. Depletion of AP2XI-2 or AP2XII-1 elicits the expression of genes specific to merozoites, but they play different roles in the merogony process. Depletion of AP2XI-2 in type II Pru strain induced parasites to undergo merogony and produce mature merozoites in alkaline medium but not in neutral medium, whereas the AP2XII-1 depleted Pru strain underwent several rounds of schizogony and produced merozoites in neutral medium and more markedly under alkaline conditions. Furthermore, we show that two AP2XI-2 interacting proteins are also involved in repressing merozoite programming. Overall, these findings indicate that the merozoite primed pre-sexual commitment is controlled by an intricate regulatory network and that AP2XI-2 or AP2XII-1 depleted parasites can be used as a model to study the merogony in vitro.
2023-12-19 | GSE248448 | GEO
Project description:Sexual reproduction of Toxoplasma gondii, which is restricted to the small intestine of felids, is sparsely documented in studies involving domestic cats, which also raises ethical concerns. Chromatin modifiers dictate the developmental fate of the parasite during its multistage life cycle, but their targeting to stage-specific cistromes is poorly described. AP2XII-1 and AP2XI-2, two transcription factors expressed in tachyzoites, a stage that causes acute toxoplasmosis, silence genes specific to merozoites, a developmental stage critical for sexual commitment and transmission to the next host, including humans. Their conditional and simultaneous depletion leads to a drastic change in the transcriptional program, promoting a complete transition from tachyzoites to merozoites. AP2XI-2 and AP2XII-1 likely synergize to suppress gene expression in tachyzoites, but their modus operandi is still enigmatic. We therefore characterized their interactomes.
2023-09-16 | PXD042658 | Pride
Project description:Commitment to and completion of sexual development are essential for Toxoplasma gondii to produce oocysts in the intestine of the feline host. Understanding of the molecular mechanism responsible for sexual commitment is extremely limited due to the lack of model systems. Here, we show that the transcription factors AP2XI-2 and AP2XII-1 associated with the epigenetic repressors MORC/HDAC3 complex are constitutively expressed in both tachyzoite and bradyzoite stages but not in the merozoite stage. Depletion of AP2XI-2 or AP2XII-1 elicits the expression of genes specific to merozoites, but they play different roles in the merogony process. Depletion of AP2XI-2 in type II Pru strain induced parasites to undergo merogony and produce mature merozoites in alkaline medium but not in neutral medium, whereas the AP2XII-1 depleted Pru strain underwent several rounds of schizogony and produced merozoites in neutral medium and more markedly under alkaline conditions. Furthermore, we show that two AP2XI-2 interacting proteins are also involved in repressing merozoite programming. Overall, these findings indicate that the merozoite primed pre-sexual commitment is controlled by an intricate regulatory network and that AP2XI-2 or AP2XII-1 depleted parasites can be used as a model to study the merogony in vitro.
2023-12-20 | PXD043808 | Pride
Project description:Toxoplasma gondii is a ubiquitous protozoan parasite with a complex life cycle containing multiple developmental stages. The parasites have distinct gene expression patterns at different stages to enable stage specific life activities, but the underlying regulatory mechanisms are largely unknown. In this study, we identified a nuclear complex that controls the expression of developmentally regulated genes, especially merozoite specific genes. This complex consists of the AP2 family transcription factor AP2Ⅻ-5, the epigenetic factors MORC and HDAC3, as well as a novel AP2Ⅻ-5 interacting protein 1 (AIP1) that stabilizes this complex. At the tachyzoite stage when the parasites proliferate rapidly by asexual endodyogeny, AP2Ⅻ-5 binds to the promoter regions of developmentally activated genes and recruits MORC and HDAC3 to suppress their expression. When sexual commitment and merozoite development is triggered, the abundance of AP2Ⅻ-5 decreases and its suppression on target genes is relieved. In contrast to MORC and HDAC3, which regulate Toxoplasma development but are also essential for tachyzoite growth, AP2Ⅻ-5 and AIP1 are dispensable for tachyzoite proliferation in vitro. These data suggest that while MORC and HDAC3 have broad regulatory activities, forming a complex with AP2Ⅻ-5 and AIP1 enables them to specifically regulate gene expression during development.
2024-12-19 | GSE283441 | GEO
Project description:Toxoplasma gondii is a medically and veterinary important intracellular parasite that undergoes distinct developmental transitions in its intermediate and definitive hosts. The switch between stages of T. gondii is meticulously regulated by a variety of factors. Previous studies have explored the role of the microrchidia (MORC) protein complex as a transcriptional suppressor of sexual commitment. By utilizing immunoprecipitation and mass spectrometry, constituents of this protein complex have been identified, including MORC, Histone Deacetylase 3 (HDAC3), and several ApiApiAP2 transcription factors. Conditional knockout of MORC or inhibition of HDAC3 results in upregulation of a set of genes associated with schizogony and sexual stages in T. gondii tachyzoites. Here, our focus extends to three primary ApiAP2s: ApiAP2XII-1, ApiAP2XI-2, and ApiAP2V-2, demonstrating their significant impact on the fitness of asexual tachyzoites and their target genes. Notably, the targeted disruption of ApiAP2XII-1 and ApiAP2XI-2 resulted in a more profound alteration in merozoite-specific genes targeted by the MORC/HDAC3 complex compared to ApiAP2V-2. Additionally, considerable overlap was observed in downstream gene profiles between ApiAP2XII-1 and ApiAP2XI-2, with ApiAP2XII-1 specifically binding to a subset of ApiAP2 transcription factors, including ApiAP2XI-2. These findings reveal an intricate cascade of ApiAP2 regulatory networks involved in T. gondii schizogony development, orchestrated by ApiAP2XII-1 and ApiAP2XI-2. This study provides valuable insights into the transcriptional regulation of T. gondii growth and development, shedding light on the intricate life cycle of this parasitic pathogen.
2023-12-10 | GSE249604 | GEO
Project description:Ubiquitylation is a common post translational modification of eukaryotic proteins. Protein ubiquitylation increases in the transition from intracellular schizont to extracellular merozoite in the asexual blood stage cycle of the human malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum (Pf). Here, we identify specific ubiquitylation sites of protein substrates in three intracellular parasite stages and extracellular merozoites; a total of 1464 sites in 546 proteins were identified. 469 ubiquitylated proteins were identified in merozoites compared with only 160 in the preceding intracellular schizont stage, indicating a large increase in protein ubiquitylation associated with merozoite maturation. Following merozoite invasion of erythrocytes, few ubiquitylated proteins were detected in the first intracellular ring stage but as parasites matured through trophozoite to schizont stages the extent of ubiquitylation increased. We identified commonly used ubiquitylation motifs and groups of ubiquitylated proteins in specific areas of cellular function, for example merozoite pellicle proteins involved in erythrocyte invasion, exported proteins, and histones. To investigate the importance of ubiquitylation we screened ubiquitin pathway inhibitors in a parasite growth assay and identified the ubiquitin activating enzyme (UBA1 or E1) inhibitor, MLN7243 (TAK-243) to be particularly effective. This small molecule was shown to be a potent inhibitor of recombinant PfUBA1, and a structural homology model of MLN7243 bound to the parasite enzyme highlights avenues for the development of P. falciparum specific inhibitors. We constructed a genetically modified parasite with a rapamycin-inducible functional deletion of uba1; addition of either MLN7243 or rapamycin to the recombinant parasite line resulted in the same phenotype, with parasite development blocked at the schizont stage. These results indicate that the intracellular target of MLN7243 is UBA1, and this activity is essential for the final differentiation of schizonts to merozoites. The ubiquitylation of many merozoite proteins and their disappearance in ring stages are consistent with the idea that ubiquitylation leads to their destruction via the proteasome once their function is complete following invasion, which would allow amino acid recycling in the period prior to the parasite’s elaboration of a new food vacuole.
2020-05-20 | PXD014998 | Pride
Project description:Pathology of the most lethal form of malaria is caused by Plasmodium falciparum asexual blood stages and initiated by merozoite invasion of erythrocytes. We present a phosphoproteome analysis of extracellular merozoites revealing 1765 unique phosphorylation sites including 785 sites not previously detected in schizonts
2015-04-23 | PXD001684 | Pride
Project description:Background: Considerable work has been carried out to understand the biology of the intermediate stages, the tachyzoite and bradyzoite, of Toxoplasma gondii in large part due to the accessible culturing methods for these stages. However, culturing methods for stages beyond the bradyzoite, including the merozoite and sexual stages, have not been developed hindering the ability to study a large portion of the parasite’s life cycle. We begin to unravel the molecular aspects of the merozoite stage focusing on gene expression. Results: To initiate this, we harvested merozoite parasites and hybridized mRNA to the Affymetrix Toxoplasma GeneChip. We analyzed the merozoite data in context of the life cycle by combining it with a previously published study that generated array data for the oocyst, tachyzoite, and bradyzoite stages (Fritz HM et al. PLoS One, 2012). Principal component analysis highlights the unique profile of the merozoite samples, placing them approximately half-way on a continuum between the tachyzoite/bradyzoite and oocyst samples. Prior studies have shown that antibodies to surface antigen p30 (SAG1) and many dense granule proteins do not label merozoites, and our microarray data confirms that these genes are not expressed at this stage. Also, the expression for many rhoptry and microneme proteins is drastically reduced while the expression for many surface antigens is increased at the merozoite stage. Gene Ontology and KEGG analysis reveals that genes involved in transcription/translation and many metabolic pathways are upregulated at the merozoite stage, highlighting unique growth requirements of this stage. We also show that an upstream promoter region of a merozoite specific gene is sufficient to control stage specific expression at the merozoite stage. Conclusion: The merozoite represents the first developmental stage within the gut of the definitive host. Determining the correct conditions that coax the parasite into the merozoite stage in vitro may allow the parasite to complete sexual development. The data presented here describe the global gene expression profile of merozoite stage and the creation of transgenic parasite strains that will be useful in unlocking how the parasite senses and responds to the felid gut environment to initiate coccidian development. The ToxoGeneChip microarray was used to measure both tachyzoite and merozoite mRNA expression in the type II TgNmBr1 strain.
2014-05-02 | E-GEOD-51780 | biostudies-arrayexpress