Abstract
Leishmaniasis is a vector-borne disease caused by a protozoa parasite from over 20 Leishmania species. The clinical manifestations and the outcome of the disease vary greatly. Global RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) analyses emerged as a powerful technique to profile the changes in the transcriptome that occur in the Leishmania parasites and their infected host cells as the parasites progresses through their life cycle. Following the bite of a sandfly vector, Leishmania are transmitted to a mammalian host where neutrophils and macrophages are key cells mediating the interactions with the parasites and result in either the elimination the infection or contributing to its proliferation. This review focuses on RNA-Seq based transcriptomics analyses and summarizes the main findings derived from this technology. In doing so, we will highlight caveats in our understanding of the parasite’s pathobiology and suggest novel directions for research, including integrating more recent data highlighting the role of the bacterial members of the sandfly gut microbiota and the mammalian host skin microbiota in their potential role in influencing the quantitative and qualitative aspects of leishmaniasis pathology.
Highlights
Leishmaniasis is caused by a parasitic protozoan carried by over 90 sandfly species which are known to transmit more than 20 species of Leishmania parasites to humans, through either zoonotic or anthroponotic infection cycles (Ready, 2013; Rostamian and Niknam, 2019; World Health Organization [WHO], 2019)
Metatranscriptomics analysis using RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) on Leishmania promastigotes isolated from the inside of the stomodeal valve of the sandfly of the vector could potentially provide more information on the complex relationship existing between parasites, viruses and bacteria co-existing in the vector
A sequence comparison of ribosomal protein L23 showed that both genes have identical coding regions, but marked differences both in length and sequence in the 3 -UTRs., which could be linked to the efficiency of the mRNA translation (Rastrojo et al, 2013)
Summary
Leishmaniasis is caused by a parasitic protozoan carried by over 90 sandfly species which are known to transmit more than 20 species of Leishmania parasites to humans, through either zoonotic or anthroponotic infection cycles (Ready, 2013; Rostamian and Niknam, 2019; World Health Organization [WHO], 2019). This review focuses on RNA-Seq based analyses of the transcriptome of Leishmania-hosts interactions and summarizes the main findings extracted using this technology This includes the more detailed understanding of the interactions between human macrophages and Leishmania parasites and the differentiation of the parasite along its various cellular forms characteristic of its complex life cycle. By doing so we will highlight current caveats in our understanding of the parasite’s pathobiology and speculate on how RNA-Seq investigations will be able to further contribute at reducing our knowledge gap on the molecular and cellular basis of host-parasite interactions among these fascinating and complex parasites along with their microbial endosymbionts (e.g., LRV) and microbial neighbors (insect gut and mammalian skin microbiotas). This will integrate the more recent insights into the potential role played by other microbes associated with Leishmania environment, including bacteria members of the insect gut microbiota and the mammalian host skin microbiota
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