Temperature is a key factor influencing the invasion and proliferation of Toxoplasma gondii in fish cells

Yang, Y; Yu, S-M; Chen, K; Hide, G; Lun, Z-R; Lai, D-H

Abstract

Toxoplasma gondii has long been considered a ubiquitous parasite possessing the capacity of infecting virtually all warm-blooded animals globally. Occasionally, this parasite can also infect cold-blooded animals such as fish if their body temperature reaches 37 °C. However, we are currently lacking an understanding of key details such as the minimum temperature required for T. gondii invasion and proliferation in these cold-blooded animals and their cells. Here, we performed in vitro T. gondii infection experiments with rat embryo fibroblasts (REF cells), grouper (Epinephelus coioides) splenocytes (GS cells) and zebra fish (Danio rerio) hepatocytes (ZFL cells), at 27 °C, 30 °C, 32 °C, 35 °C and 37 °C, respectively. We found that T. gondii tachyzoites could penetrate REF, GS nd ZFL cells at 27 °C but clear inhibition of multiplication was observed. Intriguingly, the intracellular tachyzoites retained the ability to infect mice after 12 days of incubation in GS cells cultured at 27 °C as demonstrated by bioassay. At 30 °C, 32 °C and 35 °C, we observed that the mammalian cells (REF cells) and fish cells (GS and ZFL cells) could support T. gondii invasion and replication, which showed a temperature-dependent relationship in infection and proliferation rates. Our data demonstrated that the minimum temperature for T. gondii invasion and replication was 27 °C and 30 °C respectively, which indicated that temperature is a key factor for T. gondii invasion and proliferation in host cells. This suggests that temperature-dependent infection determines the differences in the capability of T. gondii to infect cold- and warm-blooded vertebrates. [Abstract copyright: Copyright © 2020. Published by Elsevier Inc.]

Citation

Yang, Y., Yu, S., Chen, K., Hide, G., Lun, Z., & Lai, D. (2020). Temperature is a key factor influencing the invasion and proliferation of Toxoplasma gondii in fish cells. Experimental Parasitology, 217, 107966. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.exppara.2020.107966

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Aug 5, 2020
• Online Publication Date: Aug 8, 2020
• Publication Date: Oct 1, 2020
• Deposit Date: Aug 25, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: Aug 8, 2021
• Journal: Experimental Parasitology
• Print ISSN: 0014-4894
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Volume: 217
• Pages: 107966
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.exppara.2020.107966
• Publisher URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.exppara.2020.107966
• Related Public URLs: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/experimental-parasitology/
• Additional Information: Additional Information : ** From PubMed via Jisc Publications Router **Journal IDs: eissn 1090-2449 **Article IDs: pubmed: 32781094; pii: S0014-4894(20)30203-4 **History: accepted 05-08-2020; revised 15-07-2020; submitted 22-04-2020; Funders : The National Key R&D Program of China;The National Natural Science Foundation of China; Grant Number: 2017YFD0500400; Grant Number: 31772445