< i > Trichomonas vaginalis < /i > adherence phenotypes and extracellular vesicles impact parasite survival in a novel < i > in vivo < /i > model of pathogenesis

by Brenda M. Molgora, Sandip Kumar Mukherjee, Sharon Baumel-Alterzon, Fernanda M. Santiago, Katherine A. Muratore, Anthony E. Sisk Jr, Frances Mercer, Patricia J. JohnsonTrichomonas vaginalis is a human infective parasite responsible for trichomoniasis –the most common, non-viral, sexually transmitted infection worldwide.T.vaginalis resides exclusively in the urogenital tract of both men and women. In women,T.vaginalis has been found colonizing the cervix and vaginal tract while in men it has been identified in the upper and lower urogenital tract and in secreted fluids such as semen, urethral discharge, urine, and prostatic fluid. Despite the over 270 million cases of trichomoniasis annually worldwide,T.vaginalis continues to be a highly neglected organism and thus poorly studied. Here we have developed a male mouse model for studyingT.vaginalis pathogenesisin vivo by delivering parasites into the murine urogenital tract (MUT) via transurethral catheterization. Parasite burden was assessedex-vivo using a nanoluciferase-based gene expression assay which allowed quantification of parasites pre- and post-inoculation. Using this model and read-out approach, we show thatT.vaginalis can be found within MUT tissue up to 72 hrs post-inoculation. Furthermore, we also demonstrate that parasites that exhibit increased parasite adherencein vitro also have higher parasite burden in micein vivo. These data provide evidence that parasite adherence to host cells aids in parasite persisten...
Source: PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases - Category: Tropical Medicine Authors: Source Type: research