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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Immunol.
Sec. Parasite Immunology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2024.1436029

Intralesional gene expression profile of JAK-STAT signaling pathway and associated cytokines in Leishmania tropica-infected patients

Provisionally accepted
Shima Hadifar Shima Hadifar 1Nasrin Masoudzadeh Nasrin Masoudzadeh 1Hossein Heydari Hossein Heydari 1Vahid M. Goyonlo Vahid M. Goyonlo 2Mohammadali Kerachian Mohammadali Kerachian 2Maryam Daneshpazhooh Maryam Daneshpazhooh 3Ali Sadeghnia Ali Sadeghnia 4Nasim Tootoonchi Nasim Tootoonchi 4Reza E. Salim Reza E. Salim 5Sima Rafati Sima Rafati 1Ali M. Harandi Ali M. Harandi 6*
  • 1 Department of Immunotherapy and Leishmania Vaccine Research, Pasteur Institute of Iran (PII), Teharn, Iran
  • 2 Cutaneous Leishmaniasis Research Center, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Razavi Khorasan, Iran
  • 3 Autoimmune Bullous Disease Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
  • 4 Razi Medical Education Center, Faculty of Medicine, Gilan University of Medical Sciences, Rasht, Gilan, Iran
  • 5 Noor Eye Hospital, Tehran, Tehran, Iran
  • 6 University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The JAK-STAT signaling pathway is a central cascade of signal transduction for the myriad of cytokines in which dysregulation has been implicated in progression of inflammatory and infectious diseases. However, the involvement of this pathway in human cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) due to Leishmania (L.) tropica warrants further investigation. This study sought to investigate differential gene expression of several cytokines and their associated jakstat genes in the lesions of L. tropica-infected patients by quantitative Real-Time PCR. Further, the expression of five inhibitory immune checkpoint genes was evaluated. Results showed that the gene expression levels of both Th1 (ifng, il12, il23) and Th2 (il4, il10) types cytokines were increased in the lesion of studied patients. Further, elevated expression levels of il35, il21, il27 and il24 genes were detected in the lesions of CL patients. Notably, the expression of the majority of genes involved in JAK/STAT signaling pathway as well as checkpoint genes including pdl1, ctla4 and their corresponding receptors was increased. Our finding revealed dysregulation of cytokines and related jak-stat genes in the lesion of CL patients. These results highlight the need for further exploration of the functional importance of these genes in the pathogenesis of, and immunity to, CL.

    Keywords: Leishmania tropica, cutaneous leishmaniasis, JAK-STAT signaling pathway, Cytokines, immune checkpoints

    Received: 21 May 2024; Accepted: 02 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Hadifar, Masoudzadeh, Heydari, Goyonlo, Kerachian, Daneshpazhooh, Sadeghnia, Tootoonchi, Salim, Rafati and Harandi. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Ali M. Harandi, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden

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