Head-to-head comparisons of Toxoplasma gondii and its near relative Hammondia hammondi reveal dramatic differences in the host response and effectors with species-specific functions.

ABSTRACT: Toxoplasma gondii and Hammondia hammondi are closely-related coccidian intracellular parasites that differ in their ability to cause disease in animal and (likely) humans. The role of the host response in these phenotypic differences is not known and to address this we performed a transcriptomic analysis of a monocyte cell line (THP-1) infected with these two parasite species. The pathways altered by infection were shared between species ~95% the time, but the magnitude of the host response to H. hammondi was significantly higher compared to T. gondii. Accompanying this divergent host response was an equally divergent impact on the cell cycle of the host cell. In contrast to T. gondii, H. hammondi infection induces cell cycle arrest via pathways linked to DNA-damage responses and cellular

SUBMITTER: Wong ZS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7360062 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature