Transcriptome analysis by microarray of human placental chorionic villi explants infected with Trypanosoma cruzi

Chagas’ disease, one of the major public health concerns in Latin America, is caused by the haemophlagelated protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi (T. cruzi). In the past few years congenital transmission of T. cruzi has become more important, and partly responsible for the “globalization of Chagas’ disease”. The congenital transmission, although with low rates, represents the main route of transmission in non-endemic countries and endemic countries without vectorial transmission, and represents one third of the new cases each year. Diverse pathogens, including T. cruzi, are able to cross the placental barrier and infect both the placenta and fetus. However, the exact cellular and molecular mechanisms of host-pathogen interaction between T. cruzi and the placenta has been scarcely studied. The use of microarray analysis to determine expression profiles constitutes a powerful tool in order to identify genes and pathways related to the host response to infections. Here, we analyzed the transcriptomic response of human placental chorionic villi explants (HPCVE) challenged with T. cruzi trypomastigotes at low (105) and high (106) concentrations for 2 and 24 hours Human Placental Chorionic Villi Explants (HPE) were obtained from term placentas (>38 weeks) with an informed consent from heatlhy women in elective cesarean delivery. In a Level II biosafety cabinet, 0,5 cm3 HPE were isolated from the center of the cotyledon, washed with sterile PBS in order to remove excess of blood and later incubated with 105 or 106 parasites/ml (Y Strain Tripomastigotes, the infective form of the parasite) for 2 and 24 hrs.