Human Foreskin Fibroblasts-Trypanosoma cruzi infectome

The goal of this study is to simultaneously interrogate the gene expression programs in human host cells (human foreskin fibroblasts) infected with the intracellular parasite Trypanosoma cruzi. We conducted high-resolution sequencing of the transcriptomes of T. cruzi and infected human foreskin fibroblasts (HFFs) using an RNA-seq approach. An array of computational tools was applied to map reads to the T. cruzi and human genomes and reconstruct full-length transcripts. mRNA abundance was determined for T. cruzi genes at at various time points post-infection enabling us to identify co-expression patterns that correlate with the biology of the parasite. We also conducted a time course of infection in host cells to obtain a preliminary analysis of the dynamic nature of parasite and host cell gene expression programs in the context of infection. These data provide the first glimpse of T. cruzi gene expression programs that are uniquely activated in the context of intracellular infection along with the transcriptional response of the human host cell. The study provides a solid framework for future functional and genomic studies of Chagas disease as well as intracellular pathogenesis in general.

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Li Y, Shah-Simpson S, Okrah K, Belew AT, Choi J, Caradonna KL, Padmanabhan P, Ndegwa DM, Temanni MR, Corrada Bravo H, El-Sayed NM, Burleigh BA