PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Rinkenberger, Nicholas AU - Abrams, Michael E. AU - Matta, Sumit K. AU - Schoggins, John W. AU - Alto, Neal M. AU - Sibley, David TI - Over-expression Screen of Interferon-Stimulated Genes Identifies RARRES3 as a Restrictor of <em>Toxoplasma gondii</em> Infection AID - 10.1101/2021.09.04.458998 DP - 2021 Jan 01 TA - bioRxiv PG - 2021.09.04.458998 4099 - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2021/09/05/2021.09.04.458998.short 4100 - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2021/09/05/2021.09.04.458998.full AB - Toxoplasma gondii is an important human pathogen infecting an estimated 1 in 3 people worldwide. The cytokine interferon gamma (IFNγ) is induced during infection and is critical for restricting T. gondii growth in human cells. Growth restriction is presumed to be due to the induction interferon stimulated genes (ISGs) that are upregulated to protect the host from infection. Although there are hundreds of ISGs induced by IFNγ, their individual roles in restricting parasite growth in human cells remain somewhat elusive. To address this deficiency, we screened a library of 414 IFNγ induced ISGs to identify factors that impact T. gondii infection in human cells. In addition to IRF1, which likely acts through induction of numerous downstream genes, we identified RARRES3 as a single factor that restricts T. gondii infection by inducing premature egress of the parasite in multiple human cell lines. Overall, while we successfully identified a novel IFNγ induced factor restricting T. gondii infection, the limited number of ISGs capable of restricting T. gondii infection when individually expressed suggests that IFNγ mediated immunity to T. gondii infection is a complex, multifactorial process.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.