Single-cell transcriptomics of Encephalitozoon intestinalis infection in Caco-2 and Vero cells

One of the most common human-infecting microsporidian species, Encephalitozoon intestinalis, is an enteric parasite that invades and replicates within the epithelial lining of the small intestine. Two epithelial cell lines, Caco-2 and Vero cells, are routinely used as in vitro models of E. intestinalis infection.

Knowledge of host transcriptional responses at the single-cell level, as well as parasite development in these host cell lines would be a valuable resource for understanding host-pathogen interactions. Here, we use scRNA-seq to investigate the host response to E. intestinalis infection and the transcriptional dynamics of parasite development in both Caco-2 and Vero cell lines. We observe that most host cells have no direct transcriptional response to parasite invasion or intracellular replication, suggesting that cells fail to detect and/or fail to respond to direct E. intestinalis infection, consistent with previous single-cell transcriptomics of E. intestinalis-infected macrophages.