High resistance to Toxoplasma gondii infection in inducible nitric oxide synthase knockout rats.

ABSTRACT: Nitric oxide (NO) is an important immune molecule that acts against extracellular and intracellular pathogens in most hosts. However, after the knockout of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS ^-/-) in Sprague Dawley (SD) rats, these iNOS ^-/- rats were found to be completely resistant to Toxoplasma gondii infection. Once the iNOS ^-/- rat peritoneal macrophages (PMs) were infected with T. gondii, they produced high levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) triggered by GRA43 secreted by T. gondii, which damaged the parasitophorous vacuole membrane and PM mitochondrial membranes within a few hours post-infection. Further evidence indicated that the high levels of ROS caused mitochondrial superoxide

SUBMITTER: Wang ZJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8571494 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature