scholarly journals Reduced calcium storage blunts calcium signaling in Toxoplasma bradyzoites and impedes motility and egress

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yong Fu ◽  
Kevin M Brown ◽  
Nathaniel G Jones ◽  
Silvia N J Moreno ◽  
L. David Sibley
Keyword(s):  
Developmental Stages ◽  
Ex Vivo ◽  
Acute Infection ◽  
Gliding Motility ◽  
Lytic Cycle ◽  
Calcium Storage ◽  
Calcium Atpases ◽  
Dual Reporter

Toxoplasma gondii has evolved different developmental stages of tachyzoites for disseminating during acute infection and bradyzoites for establishing chronic infection. Calcium ion (Ca2+) signaling tightly regulates the lytic cycle of tachyzoites by controlling microneme secretion and motility to drive egress. However, the roles of Ca2+ signaling pathways in bradyzoites remain largely unknown. Here we show that Ca2+ signals and egress by bradyzoites in response to agonists are highly restricted. Development of dual-reporter parasites revealed dampened calcium responses and minimal microneme secretion by bradyzoites induced in vitro or harvested from infected mice and tested ex vivo. Ratiometric Ca2+ imaging demonstrated lower Ca2+ basal levels, reduced magnitude, and slower Ca2+ kinetics in bradyzoites compared with tachyzoites stimulated with agonists. Diminished responses in bradyzoites were associated with down-regulation of calcium ATPases involved in intracellular Ca2+ storage in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and acidocalcisome. Once liberated from cysts by trypsin digestion, bradyzoites displayed weaker gliding motility associated with Ca2+ oscillations compared with tachyzoites, although gliding motility of bradyzoites was enhanced by uptake of exogenous Ca2+. Collectively, our findings indicate that bradyzoites exhibit dampened Ca2+ signaling due to a decreased amount of stored Ca2+, limiting microneme secretion and egress, likely constituting an adaptation to their long-term intracellular niche.

scholarly journals Toxoplasma bradyzoites exhibit physiological plasticity of calcium and energy stores controlling motility and egress

eLife ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yong Fu ◽  
Kevin M Brown ◽  
Nathaniel G Jones ◽  
Silvia NJ Moreno ◽  
L David Sibley
Keyword(s):  
Developmental Stages ◽  
Ex Vivo ◽  
Energy Levels ◽  
Acute Infection ◽  
Lytic Cycle ◽  
Physiological Plasticity ◽  
Dual Reporter ◽  
Energy Stores ◽  
Intracellular Ca

Toxoplasma gondii has evolved different developmental stages for disseminating during acute infection (i.e. tachyzoites) and for establishing chronic infection (i.e. bradyzoites). Calcium ion (Ca2+) signaling tightly regulates the lytic cycle of tachyzoites by controlling microneme secretion and motility to drive egress and cell invasion. However, the roles of Ca2+ signaling pathways in bradyzoites remain largely unexplored. Here we show that Ca2+ responses are highly restricted in bradyzoites and that they fail to egress in response to agonists. Development of dual-reporter parasites revealed dampened Ca2+ responses and minimal microneme secretion by bradyzoites induced in vitro or harvested from infected mice and tested ex vivo. Ratiometric Ca2+ imaging demonstrated lower Ca2+ basal levels, reduced magnitude, and slower Ca2+ kinetics in bradyzoites compared with tachyzoites stimulated with agonists. Diminished responses in bradyzoites were associated with down-regulation of Ca2+-ATPases involved in intracellular Ca2+ storage in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and acidocalcisomes. Once liberated from cysts by trypsin digestion, bradyzoites incubated in glucose plus Ca2+ rapidly restored their intracellular Ca2+ and ATP stores leading to enhanced gliding. Collectively, our findings indicate that intracellular bradyzoites exhibit dampened Ca2+ signaling and lower energy levels that restrict egress, and yet upon release they rapidly respond to changes in the environment to regain motility.

scholarly journals Inefficient Placental Virus Replication and Absence of Neonatal Cell-Specific Immunity Upon Sars-CoV-2 Infection During Pregnancy

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ann-Christin Tallarek ◽  
Christopher Urbschat ◽  
Luis Fonseca Brito ◽  
Stephanie Stanelle-Bertram ◽  
Susanne Krasemann ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Pregnant Women ◽  
Vertical Transmission ◽  
Virus Replication ◽  
Ex Vivo ◽  
Acute Infection ◽  
Cell Responses ◽  
Viral Expression ◽  
Risk Of Progression

Pregnant women have been carefully observed during the COVID-19 pandemic, as the pregnancy-specific immune adaptation is known to increase the risk for infections. Recent evidence indicates that even though most pregnant have a mild or asymptomatic course, a severe course of COVID-19 and a higher risk of progression to diseases have also been described, along with a heightened risk for pregnancy complications. Yet, vertical transmission of the virus is rare and the possibility of placental SARS-CoV-2 infection as a prerequisite for vertical transmission requires further studies. We here assessed the severity of COVID-19 and onset of neonatal infections in an observational study of women infected with SARS-CoV-2 during pregnancy. Our placental analyses showed a paucity of SARS-CoV-2 viral expression ex vivo in term placentae under acute infection. No viral placental expression was detectable in convalescent pregnant women. Inoculation of placental explants generated from placentas of non-infected women at birth with SARS-CoV-2 in vitro revealed inefficient SARS-CoV-2 replication in different types of placental tissues, which provides a rationale for the low ex vivo viral expression. We further detected specific SARS-CoV-2 T cell responses in pregnant women within a few days upon infection, which was undetectable in cord blood. Our present findings confirm that vertical transmission of SARS-CoV-2 is rare, likely due to the inefficient virus replication in placental tissues. Despite the predominantly benign course of infection in most mothers and negligible risk of vertical transmission, continuous vigilance on the consequences of COVID-19 during pregnancy is required, since the maternal immune activation in response to the SARS-CoV2 infection may have long-term consequences for children’s health.

Strategies to Protect Hematopoietic Stem Cells from Culture-Induced Stress Conditions

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fatima Aerts-Kaya
Keyword(s):  
Stem Cells ◽  
Hematopoietic Stem Cells ◽  
Ex Vivo ◽  
Stress Conditions ◽  
Stress Factors ◽  
Hematopoietic Stem ◽  
Induced Stress

: In contrast to their almost unlimited potential for expansion in vivo and despite years of dedicated research and optimization of expansion protocols, the expansion of Hematopoietic Stem Cells (HSCs) in vitro remains remarkably limited. Increased understanding of the mechanisms that are involved in maintenance, expansion and differentiation of HSCs will enable the development of better protocols for expansion of HSCs. This will allow procurement of HSCs with long-term engraftment potential and a better understanding of the effects of the external influences in and on the hematopoietic niche that may affect HSC function. During collection and culture of HSCs, the cells are exposed to suboptimal conditions that may induce different levels of stress and ultimately affect their self-renewal, differentiation and long-term engraftment potential. Some of these stress factors include normoxia, oxidative stress, extra-physiologic oxygen shock/stress (EPHOSS), endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, replicative stress, and stress related to DNA damage. Coping with these stress factors may help reduce the negative effects of cell culture on HSC potential, provide a better understanding of the true impact of certain treatments in the absence of confounding stress factors. This may facilitate the development of better ex vivo expansion protocols of HSCs with long-term engraftment potential without induction of stem cell exhaustion by cellular senescence or loss of cell viability. This review summarizes some of available strategies that may be used to protect HSCs from culture-induced stress conditions.

Long-Term Ex Vivo Maintenance and Expansion of Transplantable Human Hematopoietic Stem Cells

Blood ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 94 (5) ◽  
pp. 1623-1636 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chu-Chih Shih ◽  
Mickey C.-T. Hu ◽  
Jun Hu ◽  
Jeffrey Medeiros ◽  
Stephen J. Forman
Keyword(s):  
Stem Cells ◽  
Hematopoietic Stem Cells ◽  
In Vitro Culture ◽  
Culture System ◽  
Ex Vivo ◽  
Human Stem Cells ◽  
Hematopoietic Stem ◽  
In Vitro Culture System

Abstract We have developed a stromal-based in vitro culture system that facilitates ex vivo expansion of transplantable CD34+thy-1+ cells using long-term hematopoietic reconstitution in severe combined immunodeficient-human (SCID-hu) mice as an in vivo assay for transplantable human hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs). The addition of leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) to purified CD34+ thy-1+ cells on AC6.21 stroma, a murine bone marrow–derived stromal cell line, caused expansion of cells with CD34+ thy-1+ phenotype. Addition of other cytokines, including interleukin-3 (IL-3), IL-6, granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor, and stem cell factor, to LIF in the cultures caused a 150-fold expansion of cells retaining the CD34+ thy-1+ phenotype. The ex vivo–expanded CD34+ thy-1+ cells gave rise to multilineage differentiation, including myeloid, T, and B cells, when transplanted into SCID-hu mice. Both murine LIF (cannot bind to human LIF receptor) and human LIF caused expansion of human CD34+ thy-1+ cells in vitro, suggesting action through the murine stroma. Furthermore, another human HSC candidate, CD34+ CD38− cells, shows a similar pattern of proliferative response. This suggests thatex vivo expansion of transplantable human stem cells under this in vitro culture system is a general phenomenon and not just specific for CD34+ thy-1+ cells.

Interleukin-3 supports expansion of long-term multilineage repopulating activity after multiple stem cell divisions in vitro

Blood ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 96 (5) ◽  
pp. 1748-1755 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Bryder ◽  
Sten E. W. Jacobsen
Keyword(s):  
Bone Marrow Cells ◽  
Ex Vivo ◽  
Calf Serum ◽  
Self Renewal ◽  
Hematopoietic Stem ◽  
Cell Divisions ◽  
Stem Cell Divisions

Abstract Although long-term repopulating hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) can self-renew and expand extensively in vivo, most efforts at expanding HSC in vitro have proved unsuccessful and have frequently resulted in compromised rather than improved HSC grafts. This has triggered the search for the optimal combination of cytokines for HSC expansion. Through such studies, c-kit ligand (KL), flt3 ligand (FL), thrombopoietin, and IL-11 have emerged as likely positive regulators of HSC self-renewal. In contrast, numerous studies have implicated a unique and potent negative regulatory role of IL-3, suggesting perhaps distinct regulation of HSC fate by different cytokines. However, the interpretations of these findings are complicated by the fact that different cytokines might target distinct subpopulations within the HSC compartment and by the lack of evidence for HSC undergoing self-renewal. Here, in the presence of KL+FL+megakaryocyte growth and development factor (MGDF), which recruits virtually all Lin−Sca-1+kit+ bone marrow cells into proliferation and promotes their self-renewal under serum-free conditions, IL-3 and IL-11 revealed an indistinguishable ability to further enhance proliferation. Surprisingly, and similar to IL-11, IL-3 supported KL+FL+MGDF-induced expansion of multilineage, long-term reconstituting activity in primary and secondary recipients. Furthermore, high-resolution cell division tracking demonstrated that all HSC underwent a minimum of 5 cell divisions, suggesting that long-term repopulating HSC are not compromised by IL-3 stimulation after multiple cell divisions. In striking contrast, the ex vivo expansion of murine HSC in fetal calf serum-containing medium resulted in extensive loss of reconstituting activity, an effect further facilitated by the presence of IL-3.

scholarly journals Differential Maintenance of Primitive Human SCID-Repopulating Cells, Clonogenic Progenitors, and Long-Term Culture-Initiating Cells After Incubation on Human Bone Marrow Stromal Cells

Blood ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 90 (2) ◽  
pp. 641-650 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olga I. Gan ◽  
Barbara Murdoch ◽  
Andre Larochelle ◽  
John E. Dick
Keyword(s):  
Bone Marrow ◽  
Bone Marrow Stromal Cells ◽  
Cultured Cells ◽  
Ex Vivo ◽  
Hematopoietic Cells ◽  
Long Term Culture ◽  
Cell Engraftment ◽  
Ex Vivo Culture

Abstract Many experimental and clinical protocols are being developed that involve ex vivo culture of human hematopoietic cells on stroma or in the presence of cytokines. However, the effect of these manipulations on primitive hematopoietic cells is not known. Our severe combined immune-deficient mouse (SCID)-repopulating cell (SRC) assay detects primitive human hematopoietic cells based on their ability to repopulate the bone marrow (BM) of immune-deficient non-obese diabetic/SCID (NOD/SCID) mice. We have examined here the maintenance of SRC, colony-forming cells (CFC), and long-term culture-initiating cells (LTC-IC) during coculture of adult human BM or umbilical cord blood (CB) cells with allogeneic human stroma. Transplantation of cultured cells in equivalent doses as fresh cells resulted in lower levels of human cell engraftment after 1 and 2 weeks of culture for BM and CB, respectively. Similar results were obtained using CD34+-enriched CB cells. By limiting dilution analysis, the frequency of SRC in BM declined sixfold after 1 week of culture. In contrast to the loss of SRC as measured by reduced repopulating capacity, the transplanted inocula of cultured cells frequently contained equal or higher numbers of CFC and LTC-IC compared with the inocula of fresh cells. The differential maintenance of CFC/LTC-IC and SRC suggests that SRC are biologically distinct from the majority of these in vitro progenitors. This report demonstrates the importance of the SRC assay in the development of ex vivo conditions that will allow maintenance of primitive human hematopoietic cells with repopulating capacity.

Structurally Specific Heparan Sulfates Support Primitive Human Hematopoiesis by Formation of a Multimolecular Stem Cell Niche

Blood ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 92 (12) ◽  
pp. 4641-4651 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pankaj Gupta ◽  
Theodore R. Oegema ◽  
Joseph J. Brazil ◽  
Arkadiusz Z. Dudek ◽  
Arne Slungaard ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Stem Cell ◽  
Cell Line ◽  
Stem Cell Niche ◽  
Ex Vivo ◽  
Recent Observation ◽  
Hematopoietic Progenitors ◽  
Platelet Factor ◽  
Cell Niche

Abstract Stem cell localization, conservation, and differentiation is believed to occur in niches in the marrow stromal microenvironment. Our recent observation that long-term in vitro human hematopoiesis requires a stromal heparan sulfate proteoglycan (HSPG) led us to hypothesize that such HSPG may orchestrate the formation of the stem cell niche. We compared the structure and function of HS from M2-10B4, a hematopoiesis-supportive cell line, with HS from a nonsupportive cell line, FHS-173-We. Long-term culture-initiating cell (LTC-IC) maintenance was enhanced by PG from supportive cells but not by PG from nonsupportive cells (P < .005). The supportive HS were significantly larger and more highly sulfated than the nonsupportive HS. Specifically, supportive HS contained higher 6-O-sulfation on the glucosamine residues. In agreement with these observations, purified 6-O-sulfated heparin and highly 6-O-sulfated bovine kidney HS similarly maintained LTC-IC. In contrast, completely desulfated heparin, N-sulfated heparin, and unmodified heparin did not support LTC-IC maintenance. Moreover, the supportive HS promoted LTC-IC maintenance but not differentiation of CD34+/HLA-DR−cells into colony-forming cells (CFCs) and mature blood cells. The supportive HS but not the nonsupportive HS bound both cytokines and matrix components critical for hematopoiesis, including interleukin-3 (IL-3), macrophage inflammatory protein-1 (MIP-1), and thrombospondin (TSP). Significantly more CD34+ cells adhered directly to immobilized O-sulfated heparin than to N-sulfated or desulfated heparin. Thus, hematopoiesis-supportive stromal HSPG possessing large, highly 6-O-sulfated HS mediate the juxtaposition of hematopoietic progenitors with stromal cells, specific growth-promoting (IL-3) and growth-inhibitory (MIP-1 and platelet factor 4 [PF4]) cytokines, and extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins such as TSP. We conclude that the structural specificity of stromal HSPG that determines the selective colocalization of cytokines and ECM components leads to the formation of discrete niches, thereby orchestrating the controlled growth and differentiation of stem cells. These findings may have important implications for ex vivo expansion of and gene transfer into primitive hematopoietic progenitors.

Clonal Analyses of Retroviral Vector Integrations in ADA-SCID Patients Treated with Stem Cell Gene Therapy.

Blood ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 108 (11) ◽  
pp. 3249-3249
Author(s):  
Barbara Cassani ◽  
Grazia Andolfi ◽  
Massimiliano Mirolo ◽  
Luca Biasco ◽  
Alessandra Recchia ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gene Therapy ◽  
T Cells ◽  
T Cell ◽  
Gene Transfer ◽  
Human Genome ◽  
Ex Vivo ◽  
Cd34 Cells

Abstract Gene transfer into hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells (HSC) by gammaretroviral vectors is an effective treatment for patients affected by severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) due to adenosine deaminase (ADA)-deficiency. Recent studied have indicated that gammaretroviral vectors integrate in a non-random fashion in their host genome, but there is still limited information on the distribution of retroviral insertion sites (RIS) in human long-term reconstituting HSC following therapeutic gene transfer. We performed a genome-wide analysis of RIS in transduced bone marrow-derived CD34+ cells before transplantation (in vitro) and in hematopoietic cell subsets (ex vivo) from five ADA-SCID patients treated with gene therapy combined to low-dose busulfan. Vector-genome junctions were cloned by inverse or linker-mediated PCR, sequenced, mapped onto the human genome, and compared to a library of randomly cloned human genome fragments or to the expected distribution for the NCBI annotation. Both in vitro (n=212) and ex vivo (n=496) RIS showed a non-random distribution, with strong preference for a 5-kb window around transcription start sites (23.6% and 28.8%, respectively) and for gene-dense regions. Integrations occurring inside the transcribed portion of a RefSeq genes were more represented in vitro than ex vivo (50.9 vs 41.3%), while RIS <30kb upstream from the start site were more frequent in the ex vivo sample (25.6% vs 19.4%). Among recurrently hit loci (n=50), LMO2 was the most represented, with one integration cloned from pre-infusion CD34+ cells and five from post-gene therapy samples (2 in granulocytes, 3 in T cells). Clone-specific Q-PCR showed no in vivo expansion of LMO2-carrying clones while LMO2 gene overexpression at the bulk level was excluded by RT-PCR. Gene expression profiling revealed a preference for integration into genes transcriptionally active in CD34+ cells at the time of transduction as well as genes expressed in T cells. Functional clustering analysis of genes hit by retroviral vectors in pre- and post-transplant cells showed no in vivo skewing towards genes controlling self-renewal or survival of HSC (i.e. cell cycle, transcription, signal transduction). Clonal analysis of long-term repopulating cells (>=6 months) revealed a high number of distinct RIS (range 42–121) in the T-cell compartment, in agreement with the complexity of the T-cell repertoire, while fewer RIS were retrieved from granulocytes. The presence of shared integrants among multiple lineages confirmed that the gene transfer protocol was adequate to allow stable engraftment of multipotent HSC. Taken together, our data show that transplantation of ADA-transduced HSC does not result in skewing or expansion of malignant clones in vivo, despite the occurrence of insertions near potentially oncogenic genomic sites. These results, combined to the relatively long-term follow-up of patients, indicate that retroviral-mediated gene transfer for ADA-SCID has a favorable safety profile.

Pre-Transplant Integration Site Diagnostics in Hematopoietic Stem Cell Gene Transfer.

Blood ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 114 (22) ◽  
pp. 3581-3581
Author(s):  
Claudia R Ball ◽  
Sylvia Fessler ◽  
Daniela Belle ◽  
Manfred Schmidt ◽  
Christof von Kalle ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Stem Cell ◽  
Ex Vivo ◽  
Integration Site ◽  
Hematopoietic Stem ◽  
Cell Clones ◽  
Integration Sites ◽  
Cell Gene ◽  
Stem Cell Gene

Abstract Abstract 3581 Poster Board III-518 We and others have previously shown that insertional activation of cellular genes caused by integrated retroviral vectors can lead to clonal dominance and malignant transformation. Pre-transplant diagnostics of vector flanking sequences and subsequent elimination of those clones that carry potentially dangerous integration sites prior to transplantation would dramatically improve the safety of clinical gene therapy regimens. Such a strategy requires efficient transduction of few or individual stem cells, their in vitro amplification and highly sensitive integration site determination before transplantation. To define optimal time points for transduction and ascertain the transplantability of ex vivo expanded murine stem cell clones, single CD45+Lin−Rho+SP cells isolated from bone marrow of male C57BL/6J (B6J) mice were cultivated for 8-10 days in the presence of IL11, SCF and Flt3-L. 10% of the sorted cells formed clones in vitro. In 28% ± 5% of these clones, the first division occurred during the first 48 hours after sorting, another 32% ± 8% divided up to 72 hours after sorting and additional 33% ± 7% up to 96 hours after sorting. 7% ± 4% had undergone their first division at a later time point. To examine the transplantability after ex vivo expansion, individual cell clones (containing 12 to >600 cells) were transplanted together with 105 carrier cells into lethally irradiated sex-mismatched syngeneic mice. The presence of donor-derived cells in peripheral blood of 20 transplanted mice was analyzed by Y-chromosome specific PCR. 55% of the ex vivo expanded clones contributed to post-transplant hematopoiesis. 25% of these clones exhibited long-term activity for >6 months after transplantation. Interestingly, only cell clones that had undergone their first division 48-96 hours after cell sorting contributed to long-term post-transplant hematopoiesis. For transduction, individual stem cell clones were spinoculated for 60 minutes with a GFP encoding lentiviral vector (MOI 100-5000). 5 days after transduction, 50% of cells generated by each clone were harvested, lysed and analyzed by LAM-PCR and integration site sequencing. After an additional 3 days, single clones were transplanted together with 105 carrier cells into lethally irradiated congeneic B6.SJL-PtprcaPepcb/BoyJ mice. Four weeks after transplantation, in 30% of these mice ≥0.4% CD45.1+ cells derived from single cell clones were detected in the peripheral blood. In 50% of these mice, the transduced clones contributed to myelopoiesis as well as lymphopoiesis for more than 24 weeks after transplantation, demonstrating that the longterm hematopoietic stem cell potential was retained after single cell marking and expansion. These results demonstrate that single stem cell gene transfer and subsequent expansion is possible to allow integration site determination. Long-term stem cells with defined lentiviral integration sites can be selected for transplantation. In summary, we provide proof of concept that pre-transplant diagnostics of integration sites is feasible to increase the safety of gene therapy by eliminating stem cell clones from transplants that carry unwanted integration sites. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

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