Project description:Gammadelta T cells from Ugandan children were tested for their responsiveness to stimulation with malaria parasites. Independent PBMC samples from children were incubated with Plasmodium falciparum-infected red blood cells for 6 h post-treatment, and Vdelta2+ gammadelta T cells were double sorted by FACS directly into an RNA lysis buffer. RNA was isolated, amplified using 2 rounds of linear amplification, and hybridized to Agilent Human 8x60k microarrays as a single color experiment.
Project description:<p>Malaria, caused by <em>Plasmodium</em> species, remains a significant cause of morbidity and mortality globally. Gut bacteria can influence the severity of malaria, but the contribution of specific bacteria to the risk of severe malaria is unknown. Here, multiomics approaches demonstrate specific species of <em>Bacteroides</em> are causally linked to the risk of severe malaria. <em>Plasmodium yoelii</em> hyperparasitemia-resistant mice gavaged with murine-isolated <em>Bacteroides fragilis</em> develop <em>P. yoelii</em> hyperparasitemia. Moreover, <em>Bacteroides</em> are significantly more abundant in Ugandan children with severe malarial anemia than with asymptomatic <em>P. falciparum</em> infection. Human isolates of <em>Bacteroides caccae</em>, <em>Bacteroides uniformis</em>, and <em>Bacteroides ovatus</em> but not <em>Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron</em> caused susceptibility to severe malaria in mice. However, the pathogenic potential of gut <em>Bacteroides</em> towards susceptibility to severe malaria is dependent on additional gut microbiota, indicating a consortium effect in severe malaria. Approaches that target gut <em>Bacteroides</em> may present an opportunity to prevent severe malaria and associated deaths.</p>
Project description:Whole blood transcriptomes from a longitudinal study of 5 Malawian children who first present with severe Plasmodium falciparum malaria, and return in one month with mild malaria We used microarrays to identify transcripts that were associated with each clinical presentation. A blood sample was taken upon presentation during the severe and mild malaria episodes in 5 Malawian children (total n=5 pairs) followed by RNA extraction and hybridization on Affymetrix GeneChip Human Gene 1.0 ST Array, using a paired analysis
Project description:Natural Killer (NK) cells likely play an important role in immunity to malaria, but whether repeated malaria modifies the NK cell response remains unclear. Here, we comprehensively profiled the NK cell response in a cohort of 264 Ugandan children. Repeated malaria exposure was associated with expansion of an atypical, CD56neg population of NK cells that differed transcriptionally, epigenetically, and phenotypically from CD56dim NK cells, including decreased expression of PLZF and the Fc receptor g chain, increased histone methylation, and increased protein expression of LAG-3, KIR and LILRB1. CD56neg NK cells were highly functional, displaying greater antibody dependent cellular cytotoxicity than CD56dim NK cells, and higher frequencies of these cells were associated with protection against symptomatic malaria and high parasite densities. Importantly, following marked reductions in malaria transmission, frequencies of these cells rapidly declined, suggesting that continuous exposure to malaria is required to maintain this modified, adaptive-like NK cell subset.
Project description:This study examined the differences in human and parasite gene expression pattern between children with severe malaria and those with uncomplicated malaria through a dual RNA-seq approach. Peripheral blood samples were collected which contained substantial numbers of parasites that required no RNA enrichment prior to library preparation and sequencing.
Project description:Whole blood transcriptomes from a longitudinal study of 5 Malawian children who first present with severe Plasmodium falciparum malaria, and return in one month with mild malaria We used microarrays to identify transcripts that were associated with each clinical presentation.
Project description:We aimed at finding differently expressed genes in whole blood cells of African children with asymptomatic Plasmodium falciparum infection (A), uncomplicated malaria (U), severe malarial anemia (A) and cerebral malaria (Ce) compared one to another and to healthy children (Co). Understanding malarial immunopathology in the human host represents and enormous challenge for transcriptomic research. In this work, we used microarray and real-time RT-PCR technology to pursue deeper knowledge about the mechanisms underlying this disease in African children. To this end, we investigated the genomic transcriptional profiles in whole blood of healthy children and children with asymptomatic infection, uncomplicated malaria, malaria associated with severe anemia and cerebral malaria and compared them with previously published microarray results. We were able to discriminate between the different presentations of P. falciparum infection using supervised and unsupervised clustering of microarray data and unsupervised double-hierarchical clustering of real-time RT-PCR results of a set of 22 genes known to be expressed in at least one of the principal blood cell lineages. We further found considerable overlap between genes regulated in Kenyan and Gabonese children with symptomatic malaria, in contrast to adults with acute malaria from Cameroon. Different signatures for transcription factor binding sites in promoters of genes either up-regulated in symptomatic disease, specifically up-regulated in uncomplicated malaria or specifically down-regulated in cerebral malaria point out that similar gene expression in each of these clinical presentations is probably a result of common regulation at the transcriptional level. Immunoglobulin production, complement regulation and IFN beta signalling emerged as most discrepant features between uncomplicated malaria and all other investigated presentations, correlating with IRF7 and ISRE binding signatures in the corresponding genes. Down-regulation of several genes in cerebral malaria seems instead to be a response to hypoxia orchestrated by AhRF, GABP and HIF1 transcription factors. ARG1, BPI, CD163, IFI27, HP and TNFAIP6 transcript levels correlated positively with lactatemia and inversely with hemoglobin concentration and should be evaluated as prognostic markers to direct early therapeutic measures and prevent malarial disease evolution and death.