RNA-Seq Analysis Illuminates the Early Stages of Plasmodium Liver Infection.

ABSTRACT: The apicomplexan parasites Plasmodium spp. are the causative agents of malaria, a disease that poses a significant global health burden. Plasmodium spp. initiate infection of the human host by transforming and replicating within hepatocytes. This liver stage (LS) is poorly understood compared to other Plasmodium life stages, which has hindered our ability to target these parasites for disease prevention. We conducted an extensive transcriptome sequencing (RNA-Seq) analysis throughout the Plasmodium berghei LS, covering as early as 2 h postinfection (hpi) and extending to 48 hpi. Our data revealed that hundreds of genes are differentially expressed at 2 hpi and that multiple genes shown to be important for later infection are upregulated as early as 12 hpi. Using

SUBMITTER: Toro-Moreno M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7002348 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature