Department of Molecular Tropical Medicine and Genetics, Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand.
Department of Helminthology, Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand.
PLoS One. 2022 Oct 13;17(10):e0275992. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0275992. eCollection 2022.
Schistosomiasis is a neglected tropical disease caused by an infection of the parasitic flatworms schistosomes. Schistosoma mekongi is a restricted Schistosoma species found near the Mekong River, mainly in southern Laos and northern Cambodia. Because there is no vaccine or effective early diagnosis available for S. mekongi, additional biomarkers are required. In this study, serum biomarkers associated with S. mekongi-infected mice were identified at 14-, 28-, 42-, and 56-days post-infection. Circulating proteins and antigens of S. mekongi in mouse sera were analyzed using mass spectrometry-based proteomics. Serine protease inhibitors and macrophage erythroblast attacher were down-regulated in mouse sera at all infection timepoints. In addition, 54 circulating proteins and 55 antigens of S. mekongi were identified. Notable circulating proteins included kyphoscoliosis peptidase and putative tuberin, and antigens were detected at all four infection timepoints, particularly in the early stages (12 days). The putative tuberin sequence of S. mekongi was highly similar to homologs found in other members of the genus Schistosoma and less similar to human and murine sequences. Our study provided the identity of promising diagnostic biomarkers that could be applicable in early schistosomiasis diagnosis and vaccine development.
曼氏血吸虫病是一种由寄生扁形动物曼氏血吸虫感染引起的被忽视的热带病。湄公血吸虫是一种局限于湄公河流域的血吸虫物种，主要分布在老挝南部和柬埔寨北部。由于目前尚无针对湄公血吸虫的疫苗或有效早期诊断方法，因此需要额外的生物标志物。在这项研究中，在感染后 14、28、42 和 56 天，鉴定了与感染湄公血吸虫的小鼠相关的血清生物标志物。使用基于质谱的蛋白质组学分析了小鼠血清中湄公血吸虫的循环蛋白和抗原。在所有感染时间点，鼠血清中的丝氨酸蛋白酶抑制剂和巨噬细胞红细胞附着蛋白均下调。此外，还鉴定了 54 种循环蛋白和 55 种湄公血吸虫抗原。值得注意的是，循环蛋白包括脊柱后侧凸肽酶和推定的结节性硬化症蛋白，并且在所有四个感染时间点都检测到了抗原，尤其是在早期（12 天）。湄公血吸虫的推定结节性硬化症蛋白序列与该属其他成员的同源物高度相似，与人类和鼠序列的相似性较低。我们的研究提供了有希望的诊断生物标志物的身份，这些标志物可应用于早期血吸虫病的诊断和疫苗开发。
