Hongmei Chen#, Yijia Guo#, Yushu Qiu, Huanbin Huang, Changqing Lin, Min Liu, Xiaoguang Chen, Peiliang Yang*, Kun Wu*

ABSTRACT

Background: Aromatic amino acid hydroxylase 2 (AAH2) is a bradyzoite-specifc upregulated protein that may alter host behaviour by altering the host dopaminergic pathway. To better understand the role of the parasite’s AAH2 in host-parasite interactions, we generated an AAH2 fuorescent marker strain of T. gondii using the TALEN technique.

Methods: We generated an AAH2 fuorescent marker strain of T. gondii, which was designated PRU/AAH2-eGFP, using the TALEN technique. This strain stably expressed pyrimethamine resistance for screening and expressed enhanced green fuorescent protein (eGFP)-tagged AAH2 in the bradyzoite stage. The bradyzoite conversion of PRU/AAH2-eGFP was observed both in vitro and in vivo. The fuorescence localization of AAH2 in mouse models of chronic infection was observed by a Bruker in vivo imaging system.

Results: Transgenic T. gondii was successfully generated by the TALEN system. The eGFP-tagged AAH2 could be detected by in vivo imaging.

Conclusions: This study verifed the feasibility of using TALEN technology for T. gondii research and provided an in vivo imaging method for in vivo research of bradyzoite-stage proteins.

Parasites & Vectors. 2019, 12:112

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1186/s13071-019-3378-y