Proteomic Profiling of Mouse Liver following Acute Toxoplasma gondii Infection

PLoS One. 2016 Mar 22;11(3):e0152022. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0152022. eCollection 2016.

Abstract

Toxoplasma gondii remains a global public health problem. However, its pathophysiology is still not-completely understood particularly the impact of infection on host liver metabolism. We performed iTRAQ-based proteomic analysis to evaluate early liver protein responses in BALB/c mice following infection with T. gondii PYS strain (genotype ToxoDB#9) infection. Our data revealed modification of protein expression in key metabolic pathways, as indicated by the upregulation of immune response and downregulation of mitochondrial respiratory chain, and the metabolism of fatty acids, lipids and xenobiotics. T. gondii seems to hijack host PPAR signaling pathway to downregulate the metabolism of fatty acids, lipids and energy in the liver. The metabolism of over 400 substances was affected by the downregulation of genes involved in xenobiotic metabolism. The top 10 transcription factors used by upregulated genes were Stat2, Stat1, Irf2, Irf1, Sp2, Egr1, Stat3, Klf4, Elf1 and Gabpa, while the top 10 transcription factors of downregulated genes were Hnf4A, Ewsr1, Fli1, Hnf4g, Nr2f1, Pparg, Rxra, Hnf1A, Foxa1 and Foxo1. These findings indicate global reprogramming of the metabolism of the mouse liver after acute T. gondii infection. Functional characterization of the altered proteins may enhance understanding of the host responses to T. gondii infection and lead to the identification of new therapeutic targets.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Cell Respiration / genetics
  • Down-Regulation / genetics
  • Fatty Acids / genetics
  • Female
  • Gene Expression / genetics*
  • Gene Expression Profiling / methods
  • Kruppel-Like Factor 4
  • Liver / parasitology*
  • Metabolic Networks and Pathways / genetics
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred BALB C
  • Mitochondria / genetics
  • Mitochondria / parasitology
  • Proteome / genetics*
  • Proteomics / methods
  • Signal Transduction / genetics
  • Toxoplasma / pathogenicity*
  • Toxoplasmosis, Animal / genetics*
  • Toxoplasmosis, Animal / parasitology
  • Transcription Factors / genetics
  • Up-Regulation / genetics

Substances

  • Fatty Acids
  • Klf4 protein, mouse
  • Kruppel-Like Factor 4
  • Proteome
  • Transcription Factors

Grants and funding

Project support was provided by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 31230073) and the Science Fund for Creative Research Groups of Gansu Province (Grant No. 1210RJIA006). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.