Toxoplasma gondii activates NLRP12 inflammasome pathway in the BALB/c murine model

• Published in: Acta tropica 2022-01, Vol.225, p.106202-106202, Article 106202
• Main Authors: Rajabi, Saba, Spotin, Adel, Mahami-Oskouei, Mahmoud, Baradaran, Behzad, Babaie, Farhad, Azadi, Yaghob, Alizadeh, Paria, Valadan, Reza, Barac, Aleksandra, Ahmadpour, Ehsan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Caspase-1; Inflammasomes; NRL protein mouse; Reactive Oxygen Species; Toxoplasma; Toxoplasmosis
• ISSN: 0001-706X; 1873-6254
• DOI: 10.1016/j.actatropica.2021.106202

•We investigated the role of leucine-rich repeat containing a pyrin domain 12 (NLRP12) in murine toxoplasmosis.•The results showed that injection of Toxoplasma tachyzoites significantly increased NLRP12, caspase-3, caspase-1, IL-1β, IL-18, and ASC genes mRNA expression levels.•Also, the findings showed that the level of NLRP12 protein and intracellular ROS were statistically significant higher in infected mice. The host resistance against Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) infection is related to the initiation of the immune response. The study aimed to investigate the role of the leucine-rich repeat family, pyrin domain -containing protein 12 (NLRP12), and cytoplasmic nucleotide-binding domain in the inflammasome-mediated cell death during murine toxoplasmosis. Groups of BALB/c mice (n = 10) were inoculated intraperitoneally with live tachyzoites, excretory-secretory antigens (ESAs) of T. gondii RH strain, and RPMI. The gene expression levels of NLRP12, caspase-3, caspase-1, IL-1β, IL-18, ASC, and Bcl-2 were measured in the peritoneal cells using quantitative real-time PCR, while the determination of NLRP12 protein level was measured by Western blot. Also, the intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) production was investigated. Quantitative and comparative analyses showed that injection of tachyzoites significantly increased NLRP12, caspase-3, caspase-1, IL-1β, IL-18, and ASC genes mRNA expression levels (p