A spatiotemporally resolved single-cell atlas of the Plasmodium liver stage

• Published in: Nature (London) Vol. 611; no. 7936; pp. 563 - 569
• Main Authors: Afriat, Amichay, Zuzarte-Luís, Vanessa, Bahar Halpern, Keren, Buchauer, Lisa, Marques, Sofia, Chora, Ângelo Ferreira, Lahree, Aparajita, Amit, Ido, Mota, Maria M., Itzkovitz, Shalev
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 17.11.2022; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 14; 14/63; 38/91; 631/553/2694; 631/80/304; Animals; Fatty acids; Fatty Acids - metabolism; Gene expression; Gene Expression Regulation; Genes, Protozoan - genetics; Hepatocytes; Hepatocytes - cytology; Hepatocytes - immunology; Hepatocytes - metabolism; Hepatocytes - parasitology; Host-Parasite Interactions - genetics; Host-Parasite Interactions - immunology; Humanities and Social Sciences; Infections; Inoculum; Iron - metabolism; Liver; Liver - anatomy & histology; Liver - cytology; Liver - immunology; Liver - parasitology; Malaria; Malaria - genetics; Malaria - immunology; Malaria - parasitology; Metabolism; Mosquitoes; multidisciplinary; Parasites; Parasites - genetics; Parasites - immunology; Parasites - metabolism; Parasitophorous vacuole; Plasmodium; Plasmodium berghei - genetics; Plasmodium berghei - immunology; Plasmodium berghei - metabolism; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Sequence Analysis, RNA; Single Molecule Imaging; Single-Cell Analysis; Spatial discrimination; Spatial resolution; Transcription, Genetic; Vector-borne diseases; Zonation
• ISSN: 0028-0836; 1476-4687
• DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-05406-5

Malaria infection involves an obligatory, yet clinically silent liver stage 1 , 2 . Hepatocytes operate in repeating units termed lobules, exhibiting heterogeneous gene expression patterns along the lobule axis 3 , but the effects of hepatocyte zonation on parasite development at the molecular level remain unknown. Here we combine single-cell RNA sequencing 4 and single-molecule transcript imaging 5 to characterize the host and parasite temporal expression programmes in a zonally controlled manner for the rodent malaria parasite Plasmodium berghei ANKA. We identify differences in parasite gene expression in distinct zones, including potentially co-adaptive programmes related to iron and fatty acid metabolism. We find that parasites develop more rapidly in the pericentral lobule zones and identify a subpopulation of periportally biased hepatocytes that harbour abortive infections, reduced levels of Plasmodium transcripts and parasitophorous vacuole breakdown. These ‘abortive hepatocytes’, which appear predominantly with high parasite inoculum, upregulate immune recruitment and key signalling programmes. Our study provides a resource for understanding the liver stage of Plasmodium infection at high spatial resolution and highlights the heterogeneous behaviour of both the parasite and the host hepatocyte. Single-cell RNA sequencing and single-molecule RNA transcript imaging have been used to characterize spatially and temporally resolved mouse liver and parasite expression programmes during infection with the rodent malaria parasite Plasmodium berghei ANKA.