Occurrence of foamy macrophages during the innate response of zebrafish to trypanosome infections

  1. Sem H Jacobs
  2. Eva Dóró
  3. Ffion R Hammond
  4. Mai E Nguyen-Chi
  5. Georges Lutfalla
  6. Geert F Wiegertjes
  7. Maria Forlenza  Is a corresponding author
  1. Wageningen University and Research, Netherlands
  2. University of Sheffield,, United Kingdom
  3. LIPH, CNRS, INSERM, Univ Montpellier, France
  4. LIPH, CNRS, INSERM, Univ Montpellier, Montpellier, France;, France
  5. Wageningen University & Research, Netherlands

Abstract

A tightly regulated innate immune response to trypanosome infections is critical to strike a balance between parasite control and inflammation-associated pathology. In this study, we make use of the recently established Trypanosoma carassii infection model in larval zebrafish to study the early response of macrophages and neutrophils to trypanosome infections in vivo. We consistently identified high- and low-infected individuals and were able to simultaneously characterize their differential innate response. Not only did macrophage and neutrophil number and distribution differ between the two groups, but also macrophage morphology and activation state. Exclusive to high-infected zebrafish, was the occurrence of foamy macrophages characterized by a strong pro-inflammatory profile and potentially associated with an exacerbated immune response as well as susceptibility to the infection. To our knowledge this is the first report of the occurrence of foamy macrophages during an extracellular trypanosome infection.

Data availability

All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in the manuscript and supporting files. Source data files have been provided for Figures 2, 4, 5, 6

Article and author information

Author details

  1. Sem H Jacobs

    Animal Sciences, Wageningen University and Research, Wageningen, Netherlands
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
    ORCID icon "This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0001-7482-3438
  2. Eva Dóró

    Animal Sciences, Wageningen University and Research, Wageningen, Netherlands
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  3. Ffion R Hammond

    Department of Infection, Immunity & Cardiovascular Disease, University of Sheffield,, Sheffield, United Kingdom
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  4. Mai E Nguyen-Chi

    LIPH, CNRS, INSERM, Univ Montpellier, Montpellier, France
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  5. Georges Lutfalla

    DIMNP, LIPH, CNRS, INSERM, Univ Montpellier, Montpellier, France;, Montpellier, France
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  6. Geert F Wiegertjes

    Aquaculture and Fisheries Group, Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, Netherlands
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  7. Maria Forlenza

    Cell Biology and Immunology Group, Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, Netherlands
    For correspondence
    maria.forlenza@wur.nl
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
    ORCID icon "This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0001-9026-7320

Funding

Marie Curie Initial Training Network (PITN-GA-2011-289209)

  • Eva Dóró

Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (022.004.005)

  • Sem H Jacobs

The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.

Ethics

Animal experimentation: All animals were handled in accordance with good animal practice as defined by the European Union guidelines for handling of laboratory animals http://ec.europa.eu/environment/ chemicals/lab_animals/home_en.htm). Allanimal work at Wageningen University was approved by the local experimental animal committee (DEC number 2014095).

Copyright

© 2021, Jacobs et al.

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.

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  1. Sem H Jacobs
  2. Eva Dóró
  3. Ffion R Hammond
  4. Mai E Nguyen-Chi
  5. Georges Lutfalla
  6. Geert F Wiegertjes
  7. Maria Forlenza
(2021)
Occurrence of foamy macrophages during the innate response of zebrafish to trypanosome infections
eLife 10:e64520.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.64520

Share this article

https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.64520

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