National Reference Laboratory for Animal Schistosomiasis, Shanghai Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Shanghai, PR China; Key Laboratory of Animal Parasitology of Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Shanghai Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Shanghai, PR China.
National Reference Laboratory for Animal Schistosomiasis, Shanghai Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Shanghai, PR China; Key Laboratory of Animal Parasitology of Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Shanghai Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Shanghai, PR China; College of Life Sciences, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai, PR China.
Int J Parasitol. 2022 Dec;52(13-14):815-828. doi: 10.1016/j.ijpara.2022.09.005. Epub 2022 Oct 18.
Schistosomiasis, which is caused by parasitic schistosomes, remains the second most prevalent parasitic disease of mammals worldwide. To successfully maintain fecundity, schistosomes have evolved a lifecycle that involves the cooperation of morphologically distinct male and female forms. Eggs produced by worm pairs are vital to the lifecycle of the parasite and are responsible for pathogenesis. Understanding the reproductive mechanism of schistosomes will help to control infection. In this study, the proteomic profiles of single-sex infected male (SM) worms and bisexual infected mated male (MM) worms of Schistosoma japonicum at 18, 21, 23, and 25 days p.i. were identified through data-independent acquisition. In total, 674 differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) were identified for the SM and MM worms at all four timepoints. Bioinformatic analysis demonstrated that most of the DEPs were involved in biosynthetic processes including locomotion, cell growth and death, cell motility, and metabolic processes such as protein metabolism and glucose metabolism. Schistosoma japonicum glycosyltransferase (SjGT) and S. japonicum nicastrin protein (SjNCSTN) were selected for quantitative real‑time PCR analysis and long-term interference with small interfering RNA (siRNA) to further explore the functions of the DEPs. Sjgt mRNA expression was mainly enriched in male worms, while Sjncstn was enriched in both sexes. siRNA against SjGT and SjNCSTN resulted in minor morphological changes in the testes of male worms and significant decreased vitality and fertility. The present study provides comprehensive proteomic profiles of S. japonicum SM and MM worms at 18, 21, 23, and 25 days p.i. and offers insights into the mechanisms underlying the growth and maturation of schistosomes.
血吸虫病是由寄生性血吸虫引起的，仍然是全球第二大流行的哺乳动物寄生虫病。为了成功维持生殖力，血吸虫进化出了一种生命周期，涉及形态上不同的雌雄形式的合作。虫对产生的卵对于寄生虫的生命周期至关重要，并负责发病机制。了解血吸虫的生殖机制将有助于控制感染。在这项研究中，通过数据非依赖性采集技术，鉴定了感染后 18、21、23 和 25 天的单性感染雄性（SM）蠕虫和两性感染交配雄性（MM）蠕虫的蛋白质组图谱。总共鉴定出 674 个差异表达蛋白（DEPs），用于所有四个时间点的 SM 和 MM 蠕虫。生物信息学分析表明，大多数 DEPs 参与了生物合成过程，包括运动、细胞生长和死亡、细胞运动以及代谢过程，如蛋白质代谢和葡萄糖代谢。日本血吸虫糖基转移酶（SjGT）和日本血吸虫 nicastrin 蛋白（SjNCSTN）被选择进行定量实时 PCR 分析和长期干扰小干扰 RNA（siRNA），以进一步探索 DEPs 的功能。Sjgt mRNA 表达主要在雄性蠕虫中富集，而 Sjncstn 在两性中都富集。针对 SjGT 和 SjNCSTN 的 siRNA 导致雄性蠕虫睾丸的形态变化较小，但活力和生育力显著降低。本研究提供了感染后 18、21、23 和 25 天的日本血吸虫 SM 和 MM 蠕虫的全面蛋白质组图谱，并为了解血吸虫的生长和成熟机制提供了新的见解。
