Mecanismos de transmissão transplacentária de Toxoplasma gondii em modelos murinos e em cultura de células

Abstract

Toxoplasma gondii is an intracellular protozoan parasite that is able to infect a wide variety of cells. This parasite has a great ability to explore various molecules present on the surface of cells and overcome different biological barriers, and finally reach the tissues considered immunologically privileged, such as placenta. Although this organ represents a formidable barrier against a T. gondii infection, its transmission to the fetus can occur. However, the mechanisms involved in the transmission of the parasite through the placenta are still poorly understood. Therefore, the present work had two major goals: (i) evaluate the role of ICAM-1 in the transplacental passage of T. gondii in murine animal models C57BL/6 WT and ICAM-1 knockouts (ICAM-1-/-); and (ii) characterize human mesenchymal trophoblastic cells (TSCT) to assess whether they recapitulate the sensitivity of primary human trophoblastic cells by T. gondii infection, as well as to evaluate the differential gene expression between cytotrophoblastic (TSCYT) and synciciotroblastic cells (TSSYN) after the infection. To answer the first objective, WT and ICAM-1-/- mice were mated and after detecting the first day of pregnancy, the animals were infected with 5 cysts of ME-49 strain of T. gondii and divided in different groups according to the day of infection and euthanasia (8dg / 8di, 14dg / 7di, 19dg / 12di and 19dg / 8di). Uninfected pregnant females were used as controls (8dg/ni, 14dg/ni, 19dg/ni). The number of implantation and resorption sites was evaluated. In addition, serum was collected for cytokine analysis; maternal organs, including uterine horns, and embryos/fetus and placentas were collected to assess the parasitism by qPCR. The results showed that ICAM-1-/- females infected at the beginning of pregnancy (8dg/8di) and at the end of the middle third of pregnancy (19dg/8di) had a greater impairment of gestational success compared to the WT females. Regarding to the parasitism, ICAM-1-/- 8dg/8di and 14dg/7di presented higher rates of infection in uterine horns and in the placenta, respectively, compared to WT. On the other hand, no significant differences were seen in the parasitism in the spleen and liver between ICAM-1-/- and WT in the 8dg/8di groups, and between fetal tissues of ICAM-1-/- and WT animals in the group 14dg/7di. Additionally, the cytokines IFN-γ, TNF-α, IL-6 and IL-10 were modulated by infection depending on the gestational time. For the second chapter, TSCYT cells were cultured and differentiated into TSSYN and infected or mock infected (only medium) with T. gondii. Then, the percentage of differentiation in TSSYN cells was evaluated, as well as the infection rate between TSCYT and TSSYN cells through the RT-qPCR assay. The supernatant from the different experimental conditions was collected to measure the chemokine CCL22. Then, infected and mock infected cells were collected and subjected to analysis by RNA sequencing. The data showed that TSSYN were highly refractory to the adhesion and replication of T. gondii when compared with TSCYT cells. Furthermore, the results suggested that both cells are not able to produce CCL22 in response to the parasite infection. Evaluating the RNA-seq data, we observe a huge difference in the transcriptome between TSSYN and TSCYT after the infection by T. gondii, showing that pathways related to metabolism and the cell cycle are negatively regulated in TSSYN cells compared to TSCYT. Finally, the transcriptional profile of T. gondii identified differences in gene expression in the parasites that infected/or were associated with TSSYN cells in relation to TSCYT cells, showing differences in genes involved in DNA replication and metabolism pathways, especially those related to the biosynthesis of fatty acids. Together, our data indicate that TSCT cells represent a promising model in the study of T. gondii/placenta interactions; moreover, we suggest that the resistance of TSSYN cells may be associated with low cell metabolism and low nutrient production by such cells, providing a stressful environment for the development of the parasite.