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MICRORNA TRANSCRIPTOME PROFILING IN HEART OF TRYPANOSOMA CRUZI-INFECTED MICE: PARASITOLOGICAL AND CARDIOLOGICAL OUTCOMES
Mice
Cardiological Outcomes
Parasitological Outcomes
Chagas disease
MicroRNA Transcriptome Profiling
Author
Affilliation
Abstract
Chagas disease is caused by the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, and it begins with a short
acute phase characterized by high parasitemia followed by a life-long chronic phase with
scarce parasitism. Cardiac involvement is the most prominent manifestation, as 30% of
infected subjects will develop abnormal ventricular repolarization with myocarditis, fibrosis
and cardiomyocyte hypertrophy by undefined mechanisms. Nevertheless, follow-up studies
in chagasic patients, as well as studies with murine models, suggest that the intensity of
clinical symptoms and pathophysiological events that occur during the acute phase of disease
are associated with the severity of cardiac disease observed during the chronic
phase. In the present study we investigated the role of microRNAs (miRNAs) in the disease
progression in response to T. cruzi infection, as alterations in miRNA levels are known to be
associated with many cardiovascular disorders. We screened 641 rodent miRNAs in heart
samples of mice during an acute infection with the Colombiana T.cruzi strain and identified
multiple miRNAs significantly altered upon infection. Seventeen miRNAs were found significantly
deregulated in all three analyzed time points post infection. Among these, six miRNAs
had their expression correlated with clinical parameters relevant to the disease, such
as parasitemia and maximal heart rate-corrected QT (QTc) interval. Computational analyses
identified that the gene targets for these six miRNAs were involved in networks and signaling
pathways related to increased ventricular depolarization and repolarization times,
important factors for QTc interval prolongation. The data presented here will guide further
studies about the contribution of microRNAs to Chagas heart disease pathogenesis.
Keywords
Trypanosoma cruziMice
Cardiological Outcomes
Parasitological Outcomes
Chagas disease
MicroRNA Transcriptome Profiling
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