Université de Fribourg

Erythroblasts provide a home for gametocytes

Mantel, Pierre-Yves

In: Blood, 2020, vol. 136, no. 12, p. 1375–1376

Université de Fribourg

Granzyme B attenuates bacterial virulence by targeting secreted factors

López León, Diego ; Matthey, Patricia ; Fellay, Isabelle ; Blanchard, Marianne ; Martinvalet, Denis ; Mantel, Pierre-Yves ; Filgueira, Luis ; Walch, Michael

In: iScience, 2020, vol. 23, no. 3, p. 100932

Pathogenic bacteria secrete virulence factors that interact with the human host to establish infections. The human immune system evolved multiple mechanisms to fight bacterial invaders, including immune proteases that were demonstrated to contribute crucially to antibacterial defense. Here we show that granzyme B degrades multiple secreted virulence mediators from Listeria monocytogenes,...

Université de Fribourg

γδ T cells kill Plasmodium falciparum in a granzyme- and granulysin-dependent mechanism during the late blood stage

Hernández-Castañeda, Maria Andrea ; Happ, Katharina ; Cattalani, Filippo ; Wallimann, Alexandra ; Blanchard, Marianne ; Fellay, Isabelle ; Scolari, Brigitte ; Lannes, Nils ; Mbagwu, Smart Ikechukwu ; Fellay, Benoît ; Filgueira, Luis ; Mantel, Pierre-Yves ; Walch, Michael

In: The Journal of Immunology, 2020, vol. 204, no. 7, p. 1798–1809

Plasmodium spp., the causative agent of malaria, have a complex life cycle. The exponential growth of the parasites during the blood stage is responsible for almost all malaria-associated morbidity and mortality. Therefore, tight immune control of the intraerythrocytic replication of the parasite is essential to prevent clinical malaria. Despite evidence that the particular lymphocyte subset ...

Université de Fribourg

Human microglia respond to malaria-induced extracellular vesicles

Mbagwu, Smart Ikechukwu ; Lannes, Nils ; Walch, Michael ; Filgueira, Luis ; Mantel, Pierre-Yves

In: Pathogens, 2020, vol. 9, no. 1, p. 21

Microglia are the chief immune cells of the brain and have been reported to be activated in severe malaria. Their activation may drive towards neuroinflammation in cerebral malaria. Malaria-infected red blood cell derived-extracellular vesicles (MiREVs) are produced during the blood stage of malaria infection. They mediate intercellular communication and immune regulation, among other...

Université de Fribourg

Hemozoin-catalyzed precipitation polymerization as an assay for malaria diagnosis

Rifaie-Graham, Omar ; Pollard, Jonas ; Raccio, Samuel ; Balog, Sandor ; Rusch, Sebastian ; Hernández-Castañeda, María Andrea ; Mantel, Pierre-Yves ; Beck, Hans-Peter ; Bruns, Nico

In: Nature Communications, 2019, vol. 10, no. 1, p. 1369

Methods to diagnose malaria are of paramount interest to eradicate the disease. Current methods have severe limitations, as they are either costly or not sensitive enough to detect low levels of parasitemia. Here we report an ultrasensitive, yet low- resource chemical assay for the detection and quantification of hemozoin, a biomarker of all Plasmodium species. Solubilized hemozoin catalyzes...

Université de Fribourg

Evaluation of extracellular vesicle function during malaria infection

Andrea Hernández-Castañeda, María ; Mbagwu, Smart Ikechukwu ; Babatunde, Kehinde Adebayo ; Walch, Michael ; Filgueira, Luis ; Mantel, Pierre-Yves

In: JoVE (Journal of Visualized Experiments), 2018, no. 132, p. e57067

Malaria is a life-threatening disease caused by Plasmodium parasites, with P. falciparum being the most prevalent on the African continent and responsible for most malaria-related deaths globally. Several factors including parasite sequestration in tissues, vascular dysfunction, and inflammatory responses influence the evolution of the disease in malaria-infected people. P. falciparum-infected...

Université de Fribourg

Silver-nanoparticles increase bactericidal activity and radical oxygen responses against bacterial pathogens in human osteoclasts

Aurore, Valerie ; Caldana, Fabienne ; Blanchard, Marianne ; Kharoubi Hess, Solange ; Lannes, Nils ; Mantel, Pierre-Yves ; Filgueira, Luis ; Walch, Michael

In: Nanomedicine: Nanotechnology, Biology and Medicine, 2018, vol. 14, no. 2, p. 601–607

Bone infections are difficult to treat and can lead to severe tissue destruction. Acute bone infections are usually caused by Staphylococcus aureus. Osteoclasts, which belong to the monocyte/macrophage lineage, are the key cells in bone infections. They are not well equipped for killing bacteria and may serve as a reservoir for bacterial pathogens. Silver has been known for centuries for its...

Université de Fribourg

Malaria infected red blood cells release small regulatory RNAs through extracellular vesicles

Babatunde, Kehinde Adebayo ; Mbagwu, Smart Ikechukwu ; Hernández-Castañeda, María Andrea ; Adapa, Swamy R. ; Walch, Michael ; Filgueira, Luis ; Falquet, Laurent ; Jiang, Rays H. Y. ; Ghiran, Ionita ; Mantel, Pierre-Yves

In: Scientific Reports, 2018, vol. 8, no. 1, p. 884

The parasite Plasmodium falciparum causes the most severe form of malaria. Cell communication between parasites is an important mechanism to control population density and differentiation. The infected red blood cells (iRBCs) release small extracellular vesicles (EVs) that transfer cargoes between cells. The EVs synchronize the differentiation of the asexual parasites into gametocytes to initiate...

Université de Fribourg

Infected erythrocyte-derived extracellular vesicles alter vascular function via regulatory Ago2-miRNA complexes in malaria

Mantel, Pierre-Yves ; Hjelmqvist, Daisy ; Walch, Michael ; Kharoubi-Hess, Solange ; Nilsson, Sandra ; Ravel, Deepali ; Ribeiro, Marina ; Grüring, Christof ; Ma, Siyuan ; Padmanabhan, Prasad ; Trachtenberg, Alexander ; Ankarklev, ohan ; Brancucci, Nicolas M. ; Huttenhower, Curtis ; Duraisingh, Manoj T. ; Ghiran, Ionita ; Kuo, Winston P. ; Filgueira, Luis ; Martinelli, Roberta ; Marti, Matthias

In: Nature Communications, 2016, vol. 7, p. 12727

Malaria remains one of the greatest public health challenges worldwide, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. The clinical outcome of individuals infected with Plasmodium falciparum parasites depends on many factors including host systemic inflammatory responses, parasite sequestration in tissues and vascular dysfunction. Production of pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines promotes endothelial...