Bioluminescent imaging of Trypanosoma cruzi infection

Chagas disease, caused by infection with the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, is a major public health problem in Central and South America. The pathogenesis of Chagas disease is complex and the natural course of infection is not completely understood. The recent development of bioluminescence...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal for parasitology 2008-10, Vol.38 (12), p.1391-1400
Main Authors: Hyland, Kenneth V., Asfaw, Sofya H., Olson, Cheryl L., Daniels, Melvin D., Engman, David M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Biological and medical sciences
Bioluminescent imaging
Chagas disease
Chagas Disease - parasitology
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Life cycle. Host-agent relationship. Pathogenesis
Luciferase
Luciferases - genetics
Luminescent Measurements - methods
Mice
Photons
Protozoa
Rats
Trypanosoma cruzi
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Summary:Chagas disease, caused by infection with the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, is a major public health problem in Central and South America. The pathogenesis of Chagas disease is complex and the natural course of infection is not completely understood. The recent development of bioluminescence imaging technology has facilitated studies of a number of infectious and non-infectious diseases. We developed luminescent T. cruzi to facilitate similar studies of Chagas disease pathogenesis. Luminescent T. cruzi trypomastigotes and amastigotes were imaged in infections of rat myoblast cultures, which demonstrated a clear correlation of photon emission signal strength to the number of parasites used. This was also observed in mice infected with different numbers of luminescent parasites, where a stringent correlation of photon emission to parasite number was observed early at the site of inoculation, followed by dissemination of parasites to different sites over the course of a 25-day infection. Whole animal imaging from ventral, dorsal and lateral perspectives provided clear evidence of parasite dissemination. The tissue distribution of T. cruzi was further determined by imaging heart, spleen, skeletal muscle, lungs, kidneys, liver and intestines ex vivo. These results illustrate the natural dissemination of T. cruzi during infection and unveil a new tool for studying a number of aspects of Chagas disease, including rapid in vitro screening of potential therapeutical agents, roles of parasite and host factors in the outcome of infection, and analysis of differential tissue tropism in various parasite–host strain combinations.
ISSN:0020-7519
1879-0135
DOI:10.1016/j.ijpara.2008.04.002