The determinants regulating Toxoplasma gondii bradyzoite development

Ming Pan; Ceng-Ceng Ge; Yi-Min Fan; Qi-Wang Jin; Bang Shen; Si-Yang Huang

doi:10.3389/fmicb.2022.1027073

The determinants regulating Toxoplasma gondii bradyzoite development

Front Microbiol. 2022 Nov 11:13:1027073. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2022.1027073. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Ming Pan^{1

2}, Ceng-Ceng Ge^{1

2}, Yi-Min Fan^{1

2}, Qi-Wang Jin^{1

2}, Bang Shen³, Si-Yang Huang^{1

2

4}

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Comparative Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, China.
² Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Zoonosis, Jiangsu Co-innovation Center for Prevention and Control of Important Animal Infectious Diseases and Zoonoses, Yangzhou, China.
³ State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China.
⁴ Joint International Research Laboratory of Agriculture and Agri-Product Safety, The Ministry of Education of China, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, China.

Abstract

Toxoplasma gondii is an obligate intracellular zoonotic pathogen capable of infecting almost all cells of warm-blooded vertebrates. In intermediate hosts, this parasite reproduces asexually in two forms, the tachyzoite form during acute infection that proliferates rapidly and the bradyzoite form during chronic infection that grows slowly. Depending on the growth condition, the two forms can interconvert. The conversion of tachyzoites to bradyzoites is critical for T. gondii transmission, and the reactivation of persistent bradyzoites in intermediate hosts may lead to symptomatic toxoplasmosis. However, the mechanisms that control bradyzoite differentiation have not been well studied. Here, we review recent advances in the study of bradyzoite biology and stage conversion, aiming to highlight the determinants associated with bradyzoite development and provide insights to design better strategies for controlling toxoplasmosis.

Keywords: Toxoplasma gondii; bradyzoite; cyst; differentiation; immune response; metabolism; tachyzoite.

Publication types

Review

Grants and funding

This work was partially supported by the Outstanding Youth Foundation of Jiangsu Province of China (BK20190046) and the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions (Veterinary Medicine) as well as the Natural Science Fund for Colleges and Universities in Jiangsu Province (20KJB230006).