Mechanism of Central Nervous System Dysfunction in Toxoplasma gondii Infection

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Toxoplasma gondii is an obligate intracellular parasite that invades a wide range of vertebrate host cells. Chronic infections with T. gondii become established in the tissues of the central nervous system where the parasites may directly or indirectly modulate neuronal function. However, the mechanisms of T. gondii-induced neuronal disorder remain unclear. The objective of this study is to elucidate the molecular and cellular mechanisms of neuronal disorder during T. gondii infection. In this study, host gene expression in mouse brain following infection with T. gondii was analyzed by RNA-seq. As a result, the up-regulated genes were primarily involved in host immune responses and cell activation. In contrast, genes that had a negative correlation with parasite numbers were predicted to be involved in neurological function. In addition, primary culture system of murine microglia was established, and cytokines and nitric oxide were produced in microglia against T. gondii infection.