Motile invaded neutrophils in the small intestine of Toxoplasma gondii -infected mice reveal a potential mechanism for parasite spread
Year: 2013
Type: article
Abstract: Toxoplasma gondii infection occurs through the oral route, but we lack important information about how the parasite interacts with the host immune system in the intestine. We used two-photon laser-scanning microscopy in conjunction with a mouse model of oral T. gondii infection to address this issue. T. gondii established discrete foci of infection in the small intestine, eliciting the recruitment and transepithelial migration of neutrophils and inflammatory monocytes. Neutrophils accounted for a high proportion of actively invaded cells, and we provide evidence for a role for transmigrating neutrophils and other immune cells in the spread of T. gondii infection through the lumen of the intestine. Our data identify neutrophils as motile reservoirs of T. gondii infection and suggest a surprising retrograde pathway for parasite spread in the intestine.
Language: English
Subfield: Parasitology
Field: Immunology and Microbiology
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
Awards: G2067455570, G2224182323, Biology of the apicomplexan plastid, G3807577393, G4213667264, G500317712, Dynamic imaging of intestinal dendritic cells in oral infection., Genetic dissection of parasite metabolism, G6873954530, G7941620644, G8445405338, G8463152326, Host cell influences on the development of toxoplasmic encephalitis
OpenAlex ID: W1986182935