Miniature spatial transcriptomics for studying parasite-endosymbiont relationships at the micro scale

Hailey Sounart, Denis Voronin, Yuvarani Masarapu, Matthew Chung, Sami Saarenpää, Elodie Ghedin () and Stefania Giacomello ()
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Hailey Sounart: KTH Royal Institute of Technology, SciLifeLab
Denis Voronin: Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health
Yuvarani Masarapu: KTH Royal Institute of Technology, SciLifeLab
Matthew Chung: Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health
Sami Saarenpää: KTH Royal Institute of Technology, SciLifeLab
Elodie Ghedin: Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health
Stefania Giacomello: KTH Royal Institute of Technology, SciLifeLab

Nature Communications, 2023, vol. 14, issue 1, 1-19

Abstract: Abstract Several important human infectious diseases are caused by microscale-sized parasitic nematodes like filarial worms. Filarial worms have their own spatial tissue organization; to uncover this tissue structure, we need methods that can spatially resolve these miniature specimens. Most filarial worms evolved a mutualistic association with endosymbiotic bacteria Wolbachia. However, the mechanisms underlying the dependency of filarial worms on the fitness of these bacteria remain unknown. As Wolbachia is essential for the development, reproduction, and survival of filarial worms, we spatially explored how Wolbachia interacts with the worm’s reproductive system by performing a spatial characterization using Spatial Transcriptomics (ST) across a posterior region containing reproductive tissue and developing embryos of adult female Brugia malayi worms. We provide a proof-of-concept for miniature-ST to explore spatial gene expression patterns in small sample types, demonstrating the method’s ability to uncover nuanced tissue region expression patterns, observe the spatial localization of key B. malayi - Wolbachia pathway genes, and co-localize the B. malayi spatial transcriptome in Wolbachia tissue regions, also under antibiotic treatment. We envision our approach will open up new avenues for the study of infectious diseases caused by micro-scale parasitic worms.

Date: 2023
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-42237-y

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