EgGLUT1 Is Crucial for the Viability of Metacestode: A New Therapeutic Target?

Cystic echinococcosis (CE) is a zoonotic parasitic disease caused by infection with the larvae of () cluster. It is urgent to identify novel drug targets and develop new drug candidates against CE. Glucose transporter 1 (GLUT1) is mainly responsible for the transmembrane transport of glucose to maintain its constant cellular availability and is a recent research hotspot as a drug target in various diseases. However, the role of GLUT1 in (EgGLUT1) was unknown. In this study, we cloned a conserved GLUT1 homology gene (named EgGLUT1-ss) from () and found EgGLUT1-ss was crucial for glucose uptake and viability by the protoscoleces of WZB117, a GLUT1 inhibitor, inhibited glucose uptake by and the viability of the metacestode . In addition, WZB117 showed significant therapeutic activity in -infected mice: a 10 mg/kg dose of WZB117 significantly reduced the number and weight of parasite cysts ( < 0.05) as efficiently as the reference drug, albendazole. Our results demonstrate that EgGLUT1-ss is crucial for glucose uptake by the protoscoleces of , and its inhibitor WZB117 has a therapeutic effect on CE.