Spatial Point Pattern Analysis Identifies Mechanisms Shaping the Skin Parasite Landscape in Leishmania donovani Infection.
Front Immunol
; 12: 795554, 2021.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-34975901
Increasing evidence suggests that in hosts infected with parasites of the Leishmania donovani complex, transmission of infection to the sand fly vector is linked to parasite repositories in the host skin. However, a detailed understanding of the dispersal (the mechanism of spread) and dispersion (the observed state of spread) of these obligatory-intracellular parasites and their host phagocytes in the skin is lacking. Using endogenously fluorescent parasites as a proxy, we apply image analysis combined with spatial point pattern models borrowed from ecology to characterize dispersion of parasitized myeloid cells (including ManR+ and CD11c+ cells) and predict dispersal mechanisms in a previously described immunodeficient model of L. donovani infection. Our results suggest that after initial seeding of infection in the skin, heavily parasite-infected myeloid cells are found in patches that resemble innate granulomas. Spread of parasites from these initial patches subsequently occurs through infection of recruited myeloid cells, ultimately leading to self-propagating networks of patch clusters. This combination of imaging and ecological pattern analysis to identify mechanisms driving the skin parasite landscape offers new perspectives on myeloid cell behavior following parasitism by L. donovani and may also be applicable to elucidating the behavior of other intracellular tissue-resident pathogens and their host cells.
Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Pele
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Leishmania donovani
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Processamento de Imagem Assistida por Computador
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Microscopia Confocal
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Células Mieloides
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Análise Espacial
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Leishmaniose Visceral
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Microscopia de Fluorescência
Tipo de estudo:
Prognostic_studies
Limite:
Animals
Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
2021
Tipo de documento:
Article