Biology subjects

Alves, E.

Publications and source records attributed to Alves, E..

10 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2026

The translatome of quiescent Plasmodium falciparum gametocytes reveals parasite pyridoxal 5'-phosphate (PLP) biosynthesis is essential for efficient mosquito stage development

The ability of Plasmodium falciparum gametocytes to remain quiescent within the vertebrate host but poised for rapid onward development in the mosquito is an adaptation essential to maximise the onward spread of malaria. In this dormant state, mature infectious stage V gametocytes are largely unaffected by most antimalarial drugs and our limited understanding of how gametocytes prepare for mosquito transmission has hindered the identification of new molecular targets for transmission-blocking therapeutics. In this study, we move beyond the total proteome of gametocytes and define the translatome of mature stage V gametocytes using L-azidohomoalanine incorporation into nascent proteins, click chemistry purification and proteomic analysis. We identify the proteins and pathways that gametocytes sustain in preparation for transmission during this dormant period and through genetic disruption, we validate this approach by demonstrating the importance of parasite pyridoxal 5-phosphate biosynthesis for mosquito transmission.

microbiology↗

bioRxiv2025

Adaptive-like NK cell responses to influenza correlate with humoral immunity and are influenced by age and sex

Influenza remains a global health threat, infecting approximately one billion people annually and causing significant mortality, particularly among older adults. While hemagglutination inhibition (HAI) antibody titers are a standard correlate of immunity against influenza, they do not reliably predict protection in high-risk populations. Using multiomic single-cell profiling, we identified a distinct subset of adaptive-like NK cells that respond to influenza antigen, predominantly in younger females. These TNFSF10+LGALS9+ NK cells exhibit features of adaptive NK cells but lack classical cytomegalovirus-driven markers observed in previous studies. Notably, their increased frequency correlates with high pre-existing HAI titers, suggesting a link between adaptive-like NK responses and humoral immunity. Together, our findings identify an NK subset influenced by age and sex that may contribute to influenza protection, expanding the known diversity of adaptive-like NK cells. These insights could inform future vaccine strategies, particularly for aging populations, by integrating NK responses into assessments of vaccine efficacy.

immunology↗

bioRxiv2024

Mitochondrial ATP synthesis is essential for efficient gametogenesis in Plasmodium falciparum

Interrupting parasite transmission from humans to mosquitoes is vital for malaria elimination and eradication. Plasmodium male and female gametocytes are the gatekeepers of human to mosquito transmission. Whilst dormant in the human host, their divergent roles during transmission become visually apparent soon after ingestion by the mosquito after rapid transformation into gametes - the males forming eight motile sperm-like cells that each aim to fertilise a single female gamete. Here we report that antibodies raised against PfLDH2 allow accurate identification of male gametocytes. Using this novel tool and functional mitochondrial labelling, we show that the male gametocyte mitochondrion is less active than that of female gametocytes. Rather than being a vestigial organelle discarded during male gametogenesis, we demonstrate that mitochondrial ATP synthesis is essential for male gametocytes to complete gametogenesis and inhibition leads to early arrest. Additionally, using a genetically encoded ratiometric sensor of ATP, we show that gametocytes can maintain cytoplasmic ATP homeostasis in the absence of mitochondrial respiration, indicating the essentiality of the gametocyte mitochondrion for transmission alone. Together, this reveals how gametocytes balance the conflicting energy demands of a dormant and active lifestyle and highlights the mitochondria as a rich source of transmission-blocking targets for future drug development.

microbiology↗

bioRxiv2021

Combining IP3 affinity chromatography and bioinformatics reveals a novel protein-IP3 binding site on Plasmodium falciparum MDR1 transporter

Intracellular Ca2+ mobilization induced by second messenger IP3 controls many cellular events in most of the eukaryotic groups. Despite the increasing evidence of IP3-induced Ca2+ in apicomplexan parasites like Plasmodium, responsible for malaria infection, no protein with potential function as an IP3-receptor has been identified. The use of bioinformatic analyses based on previously known sequences of IP3-receptor failed to identify potential IP3-receptor candidates in any Apicomplexa. In this work, we combine the biochemical approach of an IP3 affinity chromatography column with bioinformatic meta-analyses to identified potential vital membrane proteins that present binding with IP3 in Plasmodium falciparum. Our analyses reveal that PF3D7_0523000, a gene that codes a transport protein associated with multidrug resistance, as a potential target for IP3. This work provides a new insight for probing potential candidates for IP3-receptor in Apicomplexa.

biochemistry↗

bioRxiv2021

An extracellular redox signal triggers calcium release and impacts the asexual development of Toxoplasma gondii

The ability of an organism to sense and respond to environmental redox fluctuations relies on a signaling network that is incompletely understood in apicomplexan parasites such as Toxoplasma gondii. The impact of changes in redox upon the development of this intracellular parasite is not known. Here, we provide a revised collection of 58 genes containing domains related to canonical antioxidant function, with their encoded proteins widely dispersed throughout different cellular compartments. We demonstrate that addition of exogenous H2O2 to human fibroblasts infected with T. gondii triggers a Ca2+ flux in the cytosol of intracellular parasites that can induce egress. In line with existing models, egress triggered by exogenous H2O2 is reliant upon both Calcium-Dependent Protein Kinase 3 and diacylglycerol kinases. Finally, we show that the overexpression a glutaredoxin-roGFP2 redox sensor fusion protein in the parasitophorous vacuole severely impacts parasite replication. These data highlight the rich redox network that exists in T. gondii, evidencing a link between extracellular redox and intracellular Ca2+ signaling that can culminate in parasite egress. Our findings also indicate that the redox potential of the intracellular environment contributes to normal parasite growth. Combined, our findings highlight the important role of redox as an unexplored regulator of parasite biology.

microbiology↗

bioRxiv2021

Prioritization of antimicrobial targets by CRISPR-based oligo recombineering

Nucleophilic amino acids are important in covalent drug development yet underutilized as antimicrobial targets. Over recent years, several chemoproteomic technologies have been developed to mine chemically-accessible residues via their intrinsic reactivity toward electrophilic probes. However, these approaches cannot discern which reactive sites contribute to protein function and should therefore be prioritized for drug discovery. To address this, we have developed a CRISPR-based Oligo Recombineering (CORe) platform to systematically prioritize reactive amino acids according to their contribution to protein function. Our approach directly couples protein sequence and function with biological fitness. Here, we profile the reactivity of >1,000 cysteines on ~700 proteins in the eukaryotic pathogen Toxoplasma gondii and prioritize functional sites using CORe. We competitively compared the fitness effect of 370 codon switches at 74 cysteines and identify functional sites in a diverse range of proteins. In our proof of concept, CORe performed >800 times faster than a standard genetic workflow. Reactive cysteines decorating the ribosome were found to be critical for parasite growth, with subsequent target-based screening validating the apicomplexan translation machinery as a target for covalent ligand development. CORe is system-agnostic, and supports expedient identification, functional prioritization, and rational targeting of reactive sites in a wide range of organisms and diseases.

microbiology↗

bioRxiv2020

Cellular barcoding of Toxoplasma reveals permissive host brain colonization

Molecular barcoding techniques have emerged as powerful tools to understand microbial pathogenesis. However, barcoding strategies have not been extended to protozoan parasites, which have unique genomic structures and virulence strategies compared to viral and bacterial pathogens. Here, we present a versatile CRISPR-based method to barcode protozoa, which we successfully apply to Toxoplasma gondii and Trypanosoma brucei. The murine brain is an important transmission niche for T. gondii, and brain persistence is a clinically untreatable feature of infection. The blood-brain barrier is expected to physically restrict parasite colonization of this niche, resulting in a selection bottleneck. Using libraries of barcoded T. gondii we evaluate shifts in the population structure from acute to chronic infection of mice. Contrary to expectation, most barcodes were present in the brain one-month post-intraperitoneal infection in both inbred CBA/J and outbred Swiss mice. Although parasite cyst number and barcode diversity declined over time, barcodes that represented a minor fraction of the inoculum could become a dominant population in the brain by three months post-infection. Together, these data establish the first, robust molecular barcoding approach for protozoa and evidence that the blood-brain barrier does not represent a major bottleneck to colonization by T. gondii.

microbiology↗

bioRxiv2020

Dissection-independent production of a protective whole-sporozoite malaria vaccine

Complete protection against human malaria challenge has been achieved using infected mosquitoes as the delivery route for immunization with Plasmodium parasites. Strategies seeking to replicate this efficacy with either a manufactured whole-parasite or subunit vaccine, however, have shown only limited success. A major roadblock to whole parasite vaccine progress and understanding of the human infective sporozoite form in general, is reliance on manual dissection for parasite isolation from infected mosquitoes. We report here the development of a four-step process based on whole mosquito homogenization, slurry and density-gradient filtration, combined with free-flow electrophoresis that is able to rapidly produce a pure, aseptic sporozoite inoculum from hundreds of mosquitoes. Murine P. berghei or human-infective P. falciparum sporozoites produced in this way are 2-3-fold more infective with in vitro hepatocytes and can confer sterile protection when immunized intravenously with subsequent challenge using a mouse malaria model. Critically, we can also demonstrate for the first time 60-70% protection when the same parasites are administered via intramuscular (i.m.) route. In developing a process amenable to industrialisation and demonstrating efficacy by i.m. route these data represent a major advancement in capacity to produce a whole parasite malaria vaccine at scale. One-Sentence SummaryA four-step process for isolating pure infective malaria parasite sporozoites at scale from homogenized whole mosquitoes, independent of manual dissection, is able to produce a whole parasite vaccine inoculum that confers sterilizing protection.

microbiology↗

bioRxiv2020

Three adjacent nucleotide changes spanning two residues in SARS-CoV-2 nucleoprotein: possible homologous recombination from the transcription-regulating sequence

BackgroundGenetic variations across the SARS-CoV-2 genome may influence transmissibility of the virus and the hosts anti-viral immune response, in turn affecting the frequency of variants over-time. In this study, we examined the adjacent amino acid polymorphisms in the nucleocapsid (R203K/G204R) of SARS-CoV-2 that arose on the background of the spike D614G change and describe how strains harboring these changes became dominant circulating strains globally. MethodsDeep sequencing data of SARS-CoV-2 from public databases and from clinical samples were analyzed to identify and map genetic variants and sub-genomic RNA transcripts across the genome. ResultsSequence analysis suggests that the three adjacent nucleotide changes that result in the K203/R204 variant have arisen by homologous recombination from the core sequence (CS) of the leader transcription-regulating sequence (TRS) rather than by stepwise mutation. The resulting sequence changes generate a novel sub-genomic RNA transcript for the C-terminal dimerization domain of nucleocapsid. Deep sequencing data from 981 clinical samples confirmed the presence of the novel TRS-CS-dimerization domain RNA in individuals with the K203/R204 variant. Quantification of sub-genomic RNA indicates that viruses with the K203/R204 variant may also have increased expression of sub-genomic RNA from other open reading frames. ConclusionsThe finding that homologous recombination from the TRS may have occurred since the introduction of SARS-CoV-2 in humans resulting in both coding changes and novel sub-genomic RNA transcripts suggests this as a mechanism for diversification and adaptation within its new host.

microbiology↗

bioRxiv2017

The wheat blast pathogen Pyricularia graminis-tritici has complex origins and a disease cycle spanning multiple grass hosts

The wheat blast disease has been a serious constraint for wheat production in Latin America since the late 1980s. We used a population genomics analysis including 95 genome sequences of the wheat blast pathogen Pyricularia graminis-tritici (Pygt) and other Pyricularia species to show that Pygt is a distinct, highly diverse pathogen species with a broad host range. We assayed 11 neutral SSR loci in 526 Pygt isolates sampled from wheat and other grasses distributed across the wheat-growing region of Brazil to estimate gene flow, assess the importance of sexual reproduction, and compare the genetic structures of Pygt populations infecting wheat and nearby grasses. Our results suggest a mixed reproductive system that includes sexual recombination as well as high levels of gene flow among regions, including evidence for higher gene flow from grass-infecting populations and into wheat-infecting populations than vice versa. The most common virulence groups were shared between the grass- and wheat-infecting Pygt populations, providing additional evidence for movement of Pygt between wheat fields and nearby grasses. Analyses of fruiting body formation found that proto-perithecia and perithecia developed on senescing stems of wheat and other grass hosts, suggesting that sexual reproduction occurs mainly during the saprotrophic phase of the disease cycle on dead residues. Phalaris canariensis (canarygrass) supported the fullest development of perithecia, suggesting it is a promising candidate for identifying the teleomorph in the field. Based on these findings, we formulated a more detailed disease cycle for wheat blast that includes an important role for grasses growing near wheat fields. Our findings strongly suggest that widely grown pasture grasses function as a major reservoir of wheat blast inoculum and provide a temporal and spatial bridge that connects wheat fields across Brazil.\n\nAuthor summaryAfter the first wheat blast epidemic occurred in 1985 in Parana, Brazil, the disease spread to Bolivia, Argentina, and Paraguay, and was introduced into Bangladesh in 2016 followed by India in 2017. Wheat blast is caused by Pyricularia graminis-tritici (Pygt), a highly diverse pathogen species related to the rice blast fungus P. oryzae, but with an independent origin and a broader host range. We conducted a large scale contemporary sampling of Pygt from symptomatic wheat and other grass species across Brazil and analyzed the genetic structure of Pygt populations. Pygt populations on both wheat and other grasses had high genotypic and virulence diversity, a genetic structure consistent with a mixed reproductive system that includes regular cycles of recombination. The pathogen formed sexual fruiting structures (perithecia) on senescing stems of wheat and other grasses. Historical migration analyses indicated that the majority of gene flow has been from Pygt populations on other grasses and into the Pygt population infecting wheat, consistent with the hypothesis that Pygt originated on other grasses before becoming a wheat pathogen. We found that the Pygt populations infecting wheat were indistinguishable from the Pygt populations infecting other grass species, including signal grass (Urochloa brizantha). Because U. brizantha is a widely grown grass pasture often found next to wheat fields, we propose that it functions as reservoir of Pygt inoculum that provides a temporal and spatial bridge that connects wheat fields in Brazil.

plant biology↗