Analysis of allele-specific expression of transcripts from neutrophils infected in vitro with Leishmania infantum

Abstract

Leishmaniasis is a tropical and subtropical parasitic disease that disproportionately affects the populations of underdeveloped countries due to a combination of social, economic, environmental and health factors. Considered a neglected tropical disease, this zoonosis takes different clinical forms, including visceral leishmaniasis and cutaneous leishmaniasis, the first being caused, in the Americas, by the protozoan Leishmania (Leishmania) infantum (syn. chagasi). In Latin America, the disease has already been described in at least 12 countries, with 90% of cases occurring in Brazil, especially in the Northeast region. Insect vectors of leishmaniasis in the New World include species of the genera Lutzomyia and Psychodopygus (Diptera, Phebotominae). Leishmania is an intracellular parasite, and the course of infection depends on the cellular immune response. Through point variants present in transcripts, RNA-Seq data can be used to quantify the expression balance between maternal and paternal alleles. The imbalance of allele expression, changing a biallelic expression pattern to a monoallelic one or vice versa, can be caused, among several factors, by immune stimulation, such as the treatment of monocytes with LPS or IFN-³. Therefore, the present study aims to elucidate the impact of L. infantum infection on allelic expression, based on transcriptomic data from human neutrophils before and after in vitro infection.