Choi Boyoon, Vu Hien Thi, Vu Hai Thi, Radwanska Magdalena, Magez Stefan
Laboratory for Biomedical Research, Department of Environmental Technology, Food Technology and Molecular Biotechnology KR01, Ghent University Global Campus, Incheon 21985, Republic of Korea.
Brussels Center for Immunology (BCIM), Department of Bioengineering Sciences (DBIT), Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), 1050 Brussels, Belgium.
Pathogens. 2024 Feb 20;13(3):188. doi: 10.3390/pathogens13030188.
Trypanosomes are single-celled extracellular parasites that infect mammals, including humans and livestock, causing global public health concerns and economic losses. These parasites cycle between insect vectors, such as tsetse flies and vertebrate hosts, undergoing morphological, cellular, and biochemical changes. They have remarkable immune evasion mechanisms to escape the host's innate and adaptive immune responses, such as surface coat antigenic variation and the induction of the loss of specificity and memory of antibody responses, enabling the prolongation of infection. Since trypanosomes circulate through the host body in blood and lymph fluid and invade various organs, understanding the interaction between trypanosomes and tissue niches is essential. Here, we present an up-to-date overview of host-parasite interactions and survival strategies for trypanosomes by introducing and discussing the latest studies investigating the transcriptomics of parasites according to life cycle stages, as well as host cells in various tissues and organs, using single-cell and spatial sequencing applications. In recent years, this information has improved our understanding of trypanosomosis by deciphering the diverse populations of parasites in the developmental process, as well as the highly heterogeneous immune and tissue-resident cells involved in anti-trypanosome responses. Ultimately, the goal of these approaches is to gain an in-depth understanding of parasite biology and host immunity, potentially leading to new vaccination and therapeutic strategies against trypanosomosis.
锥虫是单细胞细胞外寄生虫，可感染包括人类和家畜在内的哺乳动物，引发全球公共卫生问题和经济损失。这些寄生虫在采采蝇等昆虫媒介和脊椎动物宿主之间循环，经历形态、细胞和生化变化。它们具有显著的免疫逃避机制，以逃避宿主的固有免疫和适应性免疫反应，如表面被膜抗原变异以及诱导抗体反应丧失特异性和记忆，从而使感染得以延长。由于锥虫在血液和淋巴液中在宿主体内循环并侵入各种器官，了解锥虫与组织微环境之间的相互作用至关重要。在此，我们通过介绍和讨论利用单细胞和空间测序应用，根据生命周期阶段以及各种组织和器官中的宿主细胞对寄生虫转录组学进行研究的最新成果，呈现锥虫宿主 - 寄生虫相互作用和生存策略的最新概述。近年来，这些信息通过解读发育过程中寄生虫的不同群体以及参与抗锥虫反应的高度异质性免疫和组织驻留细胞，增进了我们对锥虫病的理解。最终，这些方法的目标是深入了解寄生虫生物学和宿主免疫力，有可能带来针对锥虫病的新疫苗接种和治疗策略。
