Toxoplasma gondii infection of human retinal pigment epithelial cells

We performed RNA-Sequencing (RNA-Seq) of primary human retinal pigment epithelial cells and the ARPE-19 cell line 24 hours following infection with GT-1 strain T. gondii tachyzoites. Gene ontology and pathway enrichment analyses of differentially expressed total RNA identified a strong immunologic transcriptomic signature. There were limited changes in the small RNA transcriptome. We used RT-qPCR for 26 immune response-related protein-coding and long non-coding transcripts in different primary epithelial cell isolates to confirm immunological activity of infected cells. Transcriptomic profiles of human retinal pigment epithelial cells 24 hours following infection with T. gondii or mock infection