Project description:Plasmodium vivax is the most geographically widespread human malaria parasite causing approximately 130-435 million infections annually. It is an economic burden in many parts of the world and poses a public health challenge along with the other Plasmodium sp. The biology of this parasite is very little understood. Emerging evidences of severe complications due to infections by this parasite provides an impetus to focus research on the same. Investigating this parasite directly from the infected patients is the most feasible way to study its biology and any pathogenic mechanisms which may exist. Gene expression studies of this parasite directly obtained from the patients has provided evidence of gene regulation resulting in varying amount of transcript levels in the different blood stages. However, the mechanisms regulating gene expression in malaria parasites are not well understood. Discovery of natural antisense transcripts (NATs) in P. falciparum has suggested that these might play an important role in regulating gene expression. We report here the genome-wide occurrence of NATs in P. vivax parasites from patients with differing clinical symptoms. A total of 1348 NATs against annotated gene loci have been detected using a custom designed strand specific microarray. Majority of NATs identified from this study shows positive correlation with the expression pattern of the sense transcript. Our data also shows condition specific expression patterns of varying S and AS transcript levels. Genes with AS transcripts enrich to various biological processes. This is the first report detailing the presence of NATs from clinical isolates of P. vivax. The data suggests differential regulation of gene expression in diverse clinical conditions and would lead to future detailed investigations of genome regulation. Plasmodium vivax isolates were collected from patients (n = 8) with differing clinical conditions.The patients exhibited symptoms categorized as un-complicated (n =1) or complicated malaria (n = 7). Criteria for determination of complicated disease were based on World Health Organization year 2010 guidelines. Microarray array based transcriptional profiling was carried out to detect prevalence of natural antisense transcripts.
Project description:Plasmodium vivax is the most geographically widespread human malaria parasite causing approximately 130-435 million infections annually. It is an economic burden in many parts of the world and poses a public health challenge along with the other Plasmodium sp. The biology of this parasite is very little understood. Emerging evidences of severe complications due to infections by this parasite provides an impetus to focus research on the same. Investigating this parasite directly from the infected patients is the most feasible way to study its biology and any pathogenic mechanisms which may exist. Gene expression studies of this parasite directly obtained from the patients has provided evidence of gene regulation resulting in varying amount of transcript levels in the different blood stages. However, the mechanisms regulating gene expression in malaria parasites are not well understood. Discovery of natural antisense transcripts (NATs) in P. falciparum has suggested that these might play an important role in regulating gene expression. We report here the genome-wide occurrence of NATs in P. vivax parasites from patients with differing clinical symptoms. A total of 1348 NATs against annotated gene loci have been detected using a custom designed strand specific microarray. Majority of NATs identified from this study shows positive correlation with the expression pattern of the sense transcript. Our data also shows condition specific expression patterns of varying S and AS transcript levels. Genes with AS transcripts enrich to various biological processes. This is the first report detailing the presence of NATs from clinical isolates of P. vivax. The data suggests differential regulation of gene expression in diverse clinical conditions and would lead to future detailed investigations of genome regulation.
Project description:We developed a custom-designed 8×60K Plasmodium vivax microarray to enable genome-wide expression profiling of both nuclear and mitochondrial transcripts from field isolates. Probe selection was guided by a combination of bioinformatic prediction and experimental validation to ensure optimal detection of parasite transcripts in clinical samples. The array features 60-mer oligonucleotide probes in situ synthesized on glass slides using Agilent technology. It includes validated probes representing 5,565 nuclear genes and 19 mitochondrial genes in sense orientation, along with 5,566 and 19 genes, respectively, in antisense orientation capturing dual-stranded expression. In most cases, multiple probes were designed in both orientations against each transcript. Validation using 14 clinical samples (including both uncomplicated and severe (Hepatic Dysfunction) cases, demonstrated a high sensitivity, with ≥ 90% transcript detection. Multiple probes targeting the same gene showed consistent expression profiles across samples. Hybridization results were further validated against previous transcriptomic data and qRT-PCR assays, confirming the array's reliability. Uniquely designed for P. vivax, this sensitive and reproducible microarray provides a powerful functional genomics platform to generate high-confidence expression data and identify differentially regulated genes for both sense and Natural Antisense transcripts (NATs) from field isolates, including both the nuclear and mitochondrial transcriptomes.
Project description:Transcription profile of the Plasmodium vivax intraerythrocytic cycle Total RNA in Plasmodium vivax strain at every 6 hour of intraerythrocytic cycle using RNA-seq
Project description:Vir/pvpir genes, a multigene family in Plasmodium vivax that are a part of a larger superfamily of genes called the pir (Plasmodium interspersed repeat) genes have been reported earlier to be possibly involved in cytoadherence and evasion of splenic clearance. Plasmodium vivax, historically characterized as a "benign" malaria parasite, has been associated with clinical outcomes including hepatic dysfunction, renal failure, and cerebral malaria in India and several global regions. It constitutes an economic burden and presents a public health challenge alongside other Plasmodium species. Here, we present a part of global transcriptomic studies by custom designed microarray, that compare the transcriptome of the parasite responsible for severe Plasmodium vivax manifestations, specifically hepatic dysfunction and cerebral malaria from India, with an emphasis on the vir/pvpir genes, some of which are reported to play a role in cytoadherence. 23 patients with Plasmodium vivax malaria (Uncomplicated=6, Hepatic dysfunction=12 and Cerebral malaria=5) were subjected to microarray hybridization and the data so obtained showed a wide range of vir/pvpir subtelomeric subfamilies have been differentially expressed. Upregulation has been seen in 24 vir/pvpir genes in cerebral malaria samples (n=5) and 28 genes in hepatic dysfunction samples (n=12) belonging to different subfamily in at least 50% of the patient samples. Out of the upregulated vir/pvpir genes in cerebral malaria manifestation, members of vir subfamily E and pvpir H are maximum in number whereas in hepatic dysfunction manifestation, members of vir subfamily E and C comprise a significant proportion.
Project description:Recent studies indicate that the human spleen contains over 95% of the total parasite biomass during chronic asymptomatic infections caused by Plasmodium vivax. Previous studies have demonstrated that extracellular vesicles (EVs) secreted from infected reticulocytes facilitate binding to human spleen fibroblasts (hSFs) and identified parasite genes whose expression was dependent on an intact spleen. Here, we characterize the P. vivax spleen-dependent hypothetical gene (PVX_114580). Using CRISPR/Cas9, PVX_114580 was integrated into P. falciparum 3D7 genome and expressed during asexual stages. Immunofluorescence analysis demonstrated that the protein, which we named P. vivax Spleen-Dependent Protein 1 (PvSDP1), was located at the surface of infected red blood cells in the transgenic line and this localization was later confirmed in natural infections. Plasma-derived EVs from P. vivax-infected individuals (PvEVs) significantly increased cytoadherence of 3D7_PvSDP1 transgenic line to hSFs and this binding was inhibited by anti-PvSDP1 antibodies. Single-cell RNAseq of PvEVs-treated hSFs revealed increased expression of adhesion-related genes. These findings demonstrate the importance of parasite spleen-dependent genes and EVs from natural infections in the formation of intrasplenic niches in P. vivax, a major challenge for malaria elimination.