Host-parasite interactions in space and time

Abstract

Unicellular parasites of the apicomplexan phylum have a considerable effect on global health and agriculture. Two prominent examples of this phylum include malaria causing parasites of the Plasmodium genus and the widely prevalent parasite Toxoplasma gondii. While sharing a common ancestor, these parasites occupy unique biological niches, follow distinct life cycles, and result in different courses and outcomes of disease. In response to the parasite, the mammalian host has developed efficient and effective defense strategies. However, both Plasmodium and Toxoplasma have evolved strategies to evade the host’s defense response. Plasmodium parasites infect distinct tissues and cell types whereas T. gondii parasites are highly promiscuous and infect all nucleated cells. The identification of key factors involved in the interaction between the host and parasite is crucial for disease intervention, prevention, and eventually eradication efforts.

Next-generation sequencing technologies have proven effective tools to investigate the response in a tissue or cell population of an infected organism. Novel genomics methods such as single-cell RNA-seq and spatial transcriptomics have enabled the investigation of heterogeneous transcriptional responses of individual cells in a population as well as heterogeneous expression profiles at spatially distinct tissue positions across entire tissue sections. This thesis pioneers the exploration of these methods in discerning the enormous complexity underlying host-parasite interplay.

In Paper I, we determine spatial components of naive mouse liver in its true tissue context. We define gene expression gradients of pericentral and periportal zones in the liver and predict vein types with ambiguous annotations, based on in
situ transcriptional profiles. We further identify novel spatial structures with distinct transcriptional profiles, associated with tissue integrity and integrate cell type proportions across the tissue.

In Paper II we investigate host-pathogen interactions in P. berghei infected liver sections with spatiotemporal resolution. We establish spatial gene expression gradients from infection sites exhibiting upregulation of lipid metabolism associated genes 38 hours post-infection, suggesting a potential role of these pathways in immune evasion. We further show that local and systemic inflammation are delayed but not ablated in salivary gland lysate challenged control livers and propose that local inflammatory hotspots may represent an important spatial component for parasite development in the liver.

In Paper III we use dual scRNA-seq to investigate heterogeneous transcription of mouse bone marrow-derived dendritic cells (BMDCs) infected with two distinct genotypes of T. gondii parasites. We show differential responses towards the
two T. gondii genotypes in two distinct subpopulations of BMDCs over multiple time points post infection. Moreover, we generate co-expression networks that define host and parasite genes, which are likely involved in the modulation of
host immunity.

In summary, this thesis aims to characterize host-pathogen interactions of two major apicomplexan genera in two distinct cell niches of the murine host with spatiotemporal or single cell resolution. In detail, this encompasses the study of
spatial structures of the host in the liver environment and the spatiotemporal consequences of an infection with P. berghei. Furthermore, the aims include deciphering heterogeneous interactions between two distinct T. gondii strains and infected BMDCs.

Keywords: Malaria, liver-stage infection, Toxoplasma, host-parasite interactions, spatial transcriptomics, single-cellomics, single-cell Dual-seq.