Naegleria fowleri: differential genetic expression following treatment with Hesperidin conjugated with silver nanoparticles using RNA-Seq

Naegleria fowleri causes a deadly infection known as primary amoebic meningoencephalitis (PAM). To our knowledge, there are very few transcriptome studies conducted on these brain-eating amoebae, despite rise in the number of cases. Although the Naegleria genome has been sequenced, currently, it is not well annotated. Transcriptome level studies are needed to help understand the pathology and biology of this fatal parasitic infection. Recently, we showed that nanoparticles loaded with the flavonoid Hesperidin (HDN) are potential novel antimicrobial agents. N. fowleri trophozoites were treated with and without HDN-conjugated with silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) and silver only, and then, 50% minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was determined. The results revealed that the MIC of HDN-conjugated AgNPs was 12.5 microg/mL when treated for 3 h. As no reference genome exists for N. fowleri, de novo RNA transcriptome analysis using RNA-Seq and differential gene expression analysis was performed using the Trinity software. Analysis revealed that more than 2000 genes were differentially expressed in response to N. fowleri treatment with HDN-conjugated AgNPs. Some of the genes were linked to oxidative stress response, DNA repair, cell division, cell signalling and protein synthesis. The downregulated genes were linked with processes such as protein modification, synthesis of aromatic amino acids, when compared with untreated N. fowleri. Further transcriptome studies will lead to understanding of genetic mechanisms of the biology and pathogenesis and/or the identification of much needed drug candidates.