DMEM and EMEM are suitable surrogate media to mimic host environment and expand leptospiral pathogenesis studies using in vitro tools

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dc.contributor.authorGarcia, Leandro E.
dc.contributor.authorLin, Zitong
dc.contributor.authorCulos, Sophie
dc.contributor.authorMuenker, M Catherine
dc.contributor.authorJohnson, Emily E.
dc.contributor.authorWang, Zheng
dc.contributor.authorLopez-Giraldez, Francesc
dc.contributor.authorGiraud-Gatineau, Alexandre
dc.contributor.authorJackson, Angela
dc.contributor.authorPicardeau, Mathieu
dc.contributor.authorGoodlett, David R.
dc.contributor.authorTownsend, Jeffrey P.
dc.contributor.authorPětrošová, Helena
dc.contributor.authorWunder, Elsio A., Jr.
dc.date.accessioned2026-05-07T17:31:18Z
dc.date.available2026-05-07T17:31:18Z
dc.date.issued2025
dc.description.abstractPathogenic Leptospira species can survive and thrive in a wide range of environments. Distinct environments expose the bacteria to different temperatures, osmolarities, and amounts and sources of nutrition. However, leptospires are mostly cultured, in a laboratory setting under in vitro conditions that do not reflect natural environments. This constraint on laboratory cultures limits the applicability of in vitro studies to the understanding of even simple pathogenic processes. Here we report, investigate, and identify a medium and conditions that mimic the host environment during leptospirosis infection, expanding the available in vitro tools to evaluate leptospiral pathogenesis. We quantified genome-wide gene expression of pathogenic Leptospira interrogans cultured in different in vitro media compositions (EMJH, DMEM, EMEM, and HAN). Using EMJH as standard, we compared gene expression in these compositions to genome-wide gene expression gathered in a host environment: whole blood (WB) of hamsters after infection with pathogenic leptospires. Leptospires cultured in DMEM and EMEM media shared 40% and 47% of all differentially expressed genes (DEGs) of leptospires present within WB (FDR<0.01), while leptospires cultured in HAN media only shared 20% of DEGs with those from WB. Furthermore, gene and pathway expression of leptospires cultured on DMEM and EMEM media exhibited a better correlation with leptospires grown in WB, including promoting expression of a similar leptospiral lipid A profile to the one identified directly in host tissues. Taken together, these results indicate that commercial cell-culture media EMEM or DMEM are better surrogates for in vivo pathogenic studies than EMJH or HAN media in Leptospira. These alternative culture conditions, using media that are a standard supply worldwide, provide a reproducible and cost-effective approach that can accelerate research investigation and reduce the number of animal infections necessary for basic research of leptospirosis.
dc.description.reviewstatusReviewed
dc.description.scholarlevelFaculty
dc.description.sponsorshipR01 AI147314/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/United States R01 AI182354/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/United States R21 AI163663/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/United States
dc.identifier.citationGarcia, L. E., Lin, Z., Culos, S., Muenker, M. C., Johnson, E. E., Wang, Z., Lopez-Giraldez, F., Giraud-Gatineau, A., Jackson, A., Picardeau, M., Goodlett, D. R., Townsend, J. P., P?trošová, H., & Wunder, E. A. (2025). DMEM and EMEM are suitable surrogate media to mimic host environment and expand leptospiral pathogenesis studies using in vitro tools. bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory). https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.01.22.634353
dc.identifier.urihttps://doi.org/10.1101/2025.01.22.634353
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1828/23838
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherbioRxiv
dc.rightsCC BY-NC-ND
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
dc.subjectUVic Genome BC Proteomics Centre
dc.subjectSexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) Aspiration Research Cluster
dc.subjectDMEM
dc.subjectEMEM
dc.subjectLeptospira
dc.subjectRNAseq
dc.subjectcell culture media
dc.subjectleptospirosis
dc.subjectlipid A
dc.subjecttranscriptome
dc.subject.departmentDepartment of Biochemistry and Microbiology
dc.titleDMEM and EMEM are suitable surrogate media to mimic host environment and expand leptospiral pathogenesis studies using in vitro tools
dc.typePreprint

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