Host-cell dependent epigenetic profiles associated with survival outcomes in T. gondii infection.

Overview

1. Department of Molecular, Cell and Systems Biology, University of California Riverside, 900 University Avenue, Riverside, CA 92521 USA
2. Division of Biomedical Sciences, University of California Riverside, 900 University Avenue, Riverside, CA 92521 USA

Abstract

Toxoplasmosis is a widespread parasitic disease affecting roughly one-third of the global population. In immunocompromised individuals or during pregnancy, infection can result in severe complications. Following primary infection, Toxoplasma gondii forms dormant bradyzoite cysts in tissues such as the brain and eyes. These cysts can rupture, particularly in immunocompromised hosts, releasing active parasites and triggering recrudescence. Efforts to experimentally induce and study bradyzoite cyst recrudescence have been hindered by the limited capacity of cell culture adapted strains to form tissue cysts in vivo. T. gondii employs diverse strategies to persist within host cells, including manipulation of host metabolism and immune responses, and these strategies may vary by host cell type. Here, we profiled epigenomic and transcriptomic features associated with differential parasite survival in distinct cell types. Using an ex vivo model of the Type II ME49 strain unadapted to fibroblast culture, we compared parasite survival and epigenetic profiles in neonatal mouse astrocytes (AST) and human foreskin fibroblasts (HFF). Comparative analyses revealed marked divergence in parasite population dynamics, accompanied by reduced H3K4me3 enrichment at promoter regions in parasites grown in HFF. This epigenetic shift correlated with transcriptomic changes in genes linked to cell cycle progression, growth, and development, including a subset of AP2 transcription factors, underscoring the influence of host cell type on parasite biology.

Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13072-026-00678-x.

Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY), from the paper cited above.

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Data

Datasets cited

• bioproject:PRJNA1433593, at NCBI BioProject; found in “Data availability”
• figshare:32831801, at figshare; found in DataCite
• figshare:32831804, at figshare; found in DataCite
• figshare:32831810, at figshare; found in DataCite
• figshare:32831813, at figshare; found in DataCite
• figshare:32831816, at figshare; found in DataCite
• figshare:32831819, at figshare; found in DataCite

Data availability

All data are present in the main text and the supplementary materials. All biological materials and data are available from the authors upon request. ChIP-seq and RNAseq data are available in NCBI SRA https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/bioproject/PRJNA1433593 (PRJNA1433593).

Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY), from the paper cited above.

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Version 1, 28 September 2026: the first record

Recorded: type, language, journal, volume, issue, pages, dates, 9 authors, 12 MeSH terms, 2 funders, 43 references.

Cite

This paper

Ciampossin, L., Ulu, A., Lenz, T., Li, Z., Abel, S., Srivastava, S., White, M., Wilson, E., & G Le Roch, K. (2026). Host-cell dependent epigenetic profiles associated with survival outcomes in T. gondii infection. Epigenetics & chromatin, 19(1), 27. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13072-026-00678-x

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