Infection of hematopoietic stem cells by Leishmania infantum increases erythropoiesis and alters the phenotypic and functional profiles of progeny

Immunosuppression is a well-established risk factor for Visceral Leishmaniasis. Post-immunosuppression leishmaniasis is characterized by an increase of parasite burden, hematopoietic disorders and unusual clinical manifestations. Although there are many reports on bone marrow findings in VL, less is known about the relationship between parasite dynamics in this organ and the function of either hematopoietic stem cells and progenitor cells themselves. In the present study, we tackle these issues using a new approach of infecting human stem cells derived from bone marrow with L. infantum. Using this strategy, we show that human hematopoietic stem cells (hHSC) are able to phagocytize L. infantum promastigotes and release modulatory and pro-inflammatory cytokines, mainly TNF-α. Our results demonstrated that L. infantum infection in vitro enhances hematopoiesis, favoring the development of erythrocitic lineage through a mechanism yet unknown. Moreover, we found that L. infantum infection alters the phenotypic profile of the hematopoietic progeny; modifying the surface markers expression of differentiated cells. Thus, our study represents a rare opportunity to monitor the in vitro differentiation of human stem cells experimentally infected by L. infantum to better understand the consequences of the infection on phenotypic and functional profile of the cell progeny.