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HomeCURRENT AFFAIRSHEALTHResearchers Describe How a Parasite Injects Protein into an Immune Cell's Nucleus,...

Researchers Describe How a Parasite Injects Protein into an Immune Cell’s Nucleus, Changing the Identity of the Cell

Stockholm University: The parasite Toxoplasma infects the majority of humans on the world. The success of this microscopic parasite’s spread throughout the body, including to the brain, is now shown by a study led by researchers at Stockholm University. Once infected, immune cells are taken over by the parasite.

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The scholarly journal Cell Host & Microbe published the study’s findings.

The diverse functions of immune cells in the body are extremely rigorously controlled in order to combat infections. How Toxoplasma infects so many people and animal species and spreads so quickly has long been a mystery to scientists.

According to Arne ten Hoeve, a researcher at Stockholm University’s Wenner-Gren Institute’s Department of Molecular Biosciences, “We have now identified a protein that the parasite utilises to modify the immune system.”

According to the study, the parasite injects the protein into the immune cell’s nucleus, changing the cell’s identity. Immune cells are deceived by the parasite into believing they are a different kind of cell. The immune cell’s activity and gene expression are altered as a result. Toxoplasma causes infected cells that ordinarily shouldn’t move across the body to do so swiftly, which allows the parasite to migrate to many organs.

It has been suggested that Toxoplasma causes immune cells to behave like wandering “zombies” or Trojan horses that disseminate the parasite. The recently released study offers a biological explanation for the phenomena and demonstrates how much more specifically focused the parasite’s proliferation is than previously believed.

The study, which was conducted by Professor Antonio Barragan and included experts from France and the USA stated, “It is astonishing that the parasite succeeds in hijacking the identity of the immune cells in such a clever way. We believe that the findings can explain why Toxoplasma spreads so efficiently in the body when it infects humans and animals.” 

By causing infected macrophages to exhibit migratory characteristics akin to dendritic cells, the Toxoplasma effector GRA28 promotes the spread of the parasite. Mohamed-Ali Hakimi, Antonio Barragan, Gabriela C. Olivera, Alexandre Bougdour, Lucid Belmudes, Yohann Coute, Jeroen P.J. Saeij, Laurence Braun, and Arne L. ten Hoeve Reference: 10.1016/j.chom.2022.10.001

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Regarding the toxoplasma parasite and the illness toxoplasmosis:

The most prevalent parasite infection in people worldwide is likely toxoplasmosis. Zoonosis is the spread of Toxoplasma among various animal species, including our pets. At least 30% of people on earth are thought to be parasite carriers, according to the WHO. According to studies, the parasite is present in 15–25% of the Swedish population (the vast majority without knowing it). Numerous other European nations have a greater incidence of the condition.

Felines, not just domestic cats, hold a distinctive place in the Toxoplasma life cycle because sexual reproduction only occurs in cats’ intestines. The parasite divides in order to reproduce in additional hosts like humans, dogs, or birds.

Food and touch with cats are two ways that toxoplasma is transmitted. The parasite mainly passes from rats to cats to rodents in the wild. When the cat eats the mouse, the parasites that were “sleeping” in the brain of the rodent begin to multiply in the cat’s intestine and escape through the cat’s excrement. When the parasite gets into the foliage, the rodent that eats it contracts the infection. Humans can contract the disease by eating meat or coming into contact with cat waste.

Toxoplasmosis is brought on by the parasite. First-time infections cause mild flu-like symptoms that can look like a cold or the flu. The parasite enters a “sleeping” stage in the brain following the initial infection phase and starts a chronic silent infection that can endure for decades or for the rest of one’s life. In healthy people, the persistent infection typically has no symptoms. However, Toxoplasma can be harmful to the foetus during pregnancy and can result in a life-threatening brain infection (encephalitis) in patients with weaker immune systems (HIV, organ transplant recipients, those who have undergone chemotherapy). Even healthy people can develop eye infections. (ANI)

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