<i>Toxoplasma gondii</i> impairs CX3CL1/fractalkine shedding from mouse cortical neurons, leading to microglia activation.

ABSTRACT: Toxoplasmosis is caused by infection with Toxoplasma gondii and is one of the most prevalent food-borne parasitic disease worldwide. T. gondii disseminates through the host organism and forms a latency-specific structure called bradyzoite cysts, found primarily in muscle and neuronal cells. In mice, Toxoplasma leads to sustained brain microvascular abnormalities, including capillary rarefaction, microglial activation, and blood-brain barrier (BBB) breakdown, resulting in synaptic and neuronal loss, behavioral and cognitive damages. We hypothesized that cyst-bearing neurons could signal distinct classes of molecules that would orchestrate neurovascular and neuroinflammatory processes. Primary mouse cortical neurons were infected with T. gondii (ME49 strain) tachyzoites,

SUBMITTER: de Castro LL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12502563 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature