Comparative characterization of microRNAs of Schistosoma japonicum from SCID mice and BALB/c mice: Clues to the regulation of parasite growth and development.

Schistosomiasis, caused by a parasite with a wide range of mammalian hosts, remains one of the most prevailing parasitic diseases in the world. While numerous studies have reported that the growth and reproduction of schistosomes in immunodeficient mice was significantly retarded, the underlying molecular mechanisms have yet to be revealed. In this study, we comparatively analyzed the microRNA expression of Schistosoma japonicum derived from SCID and BALB/c mice on the 35th day post-infection by high-throughput RNA sequencing as prominent morphological abnormalities had been observed in schistosomes from SCID mice when compared with those from BALB/c mice. The results revealed that more than 72% and 61% of clean reads in the small RNA libraries of female and male schistosomes, respectively, could be mapped to the selected miRs in the miRBase or the sequences of species-specific genomes. Further analysis identified 122 miRNAs using TPM >0.01 as the threshold value, including 75 known and 47 novel miRNAs, 96 of which were commonly expressed across all the four tested schistosome libraries. Comparative analysis of the libraries of schistosomes from SCID and BALB/c mice identified 15 differentially expressed miRNAs (5 up-regulated and 10 down-regulated) among females and 16 among males (9 up-regulated and 7 down-regulated). Integrated analysis of the two sets of differentially expressed miRNAs of female and male worms identified 2 miRNAs (sja-miR-3488 and sja-miR-novel_29) that overlapped between female and male datasets. Prediction of miRNA targets and Gene Ontology (GO) term enrichment analysis of the predicted target genes revealed that these genes were involved in some important biological processes, such as nucleic acid metabolic process, macromolecule modification, and cellular aromatic compound metabolic process. The predicted target genes were further matched to the differentially expressed genes in male and female schistosomes from the above two hosts, obtaining 7 genes that may be responsible for regulating the growth, development and sex maturation of schistosomes. Taken together, this study provides the first identification of differentially expressed miRNAs in schistosomes from SCID and BALB/c mice. These miRNAs and their predicted target mRNAs are probably involved in the regulation of development, growth, and maturation of schistosomes. Therefore, this study expands our understanding of schistosome development regulation and host-parasite relationship, and also provides a valuable set of potential anti-schistosomal targets for prevention and control of schistosomiasis.

Prohibitin 1 (PHB1) controls growth and development and regulates proliferation and apoptosis in Schistosoma japonicum.

Schistosomiasis is a zoonotic parasitic disease caused by the trematode blood flukes of the genus Schistosoma. The prodigious egg output of females is the main cause of the disease in definitive hosts, while the female worm relies on continuous pairing with the male worm to fuel the growth and maturation of the reproductive organs and egg production. Prohibitin, which contains the functionally interdependent PHB1 and PHB2 subunits in human and some other species, has been proposed to participate in the cell proliferation and apoptosis regulation in mammals. However, little is known about the function of PHB homolog in the growth and reproductive development of schistosomes. Here, we reported the Phb1 gene that was structurally and evolutionarily conserved in Schistosoma japonicum when compared with that of other species from Caenorhabditis elegans to human. Real-time PCR detected that SjPhb1 was highly transcribed in the vitellaria of female worms. SjPhb1 knockdown achieved through the dsRNA-mediated RNAi in vivo resulted in retarded growth, decreased pairing, and fecundity in adult worms, as well as attenuated pathogenicity or virulence of worms to their hosts. Cell proliferation and apoptosis examination found decreased cell proliferation and increased cell apoptosis in SjPhb1 dsRNA-treated worms. Therefore, our study provides the first characterization of S. japonicum PHB1 and reveals its fundamental role in the regulation of growth and development of S. japonicum by specific dsRNA-mediated RNAi in vivo. Our findings prompt for a promising molecular of schistosomes that can be targeted to effectively retard the growth and development of the schistosomes.

Comparative Transcriptome Analyses of Schistosoma japonicum Derived From SCID Mice and BALB/c Mice: Clues to the Abnormality in Parasite Growth and Development.

Schistosomiasis, caused by the parasitic flatworms called schistosomes, remains one of the most prevailing parasitic diseases in the world. The prodigious oviposition of female worms after maturity is the main driver of pathology due to infection, yet our understanding about the regulation of development and reproduction of schistosomes is limited. Here, we comparatively profiled the transcriptome of Schistosoma japonicum recovered from SCID and BALB/c mice, which were collected 35 days post-infection, when prominent morphological abnormalities could be observed in schistosomes from SCID mice, by performing RNA-seq analysis. Of the 11,183 identified genes, 62 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) with 39 upregulated and 23 downregulated messenger RNAs (mRNAs) were found in male worms from SCID mice (S_M) vs. male worms from BALB/c mice (B_M), and 240 DEGs with 152 upregulated and 88 downregulated mRNAs were found in female worms from SCID mice (S_F) vs. female worms from BALB/c mice (B_F). We also tested nine DEGs with a relatively higher expression abundance in the gonads of the worms (ovary, vitellaria, or testis), suggesting their potential biological significance in the development and reproduction of the parasites. Gene ontology (GO) enrichment analysis revealed that GO terms such as "microtubule-based process," "multicellular organismal development," and "Rho protein signal transduction" were significantly enriched in the DEGs in S_F vs. B_F, whereas GO terms such as "oxidation-reduction process," "response to stress," and "response to DNA damage stimulus" were significantly enriched in the DEGs in S_M vs. B_M. These results revealed that the differential expression of some important genes might contribute to the morphological abnormalities of worms in SCID mice. Furthermore, we selected one DEG, the mitochondrial prohibitin complex protein 1 (Phb1), to perform double-stranded RNA (dsRNA)-mediated RNA interference (RNAi) in vivo targeting the worms in BALB/c mice, and we found that it was essential for the growth and reproductive development of both male and female S. japonicum worms. Taken together, these results provided a wealth of information on the differential gene expression profiles of schistosomes from SCID mice when compared with those from BALB/c mice, which were potentially involved in regulating the growth and development of schistosomes. These findings contributed to an understanding of parasite biology and provided a rich resource for the exploitation of antischistosomal intervention targets.

Comparative serum metabolomics between SCID mice and BALB/c mice with or without Schistosoma japonicum infection: Clues to the abnormal growth and development of schistosome in SCID mice.

The small blood flukes of genus Schistosoma, which cause one of the most prevalent and serious parasitic zoonosis schistosomiasis, are dependent on immune-related factors of their mammalian host to facilitate their growth and development, and the formation of granulomatous pathology caused by eggs deposited in host's liver and intestinal wall. Schistosome development is hampered in the mice lacking just T cells, and is even more heavily retarded in the severe combined immunodeficient (SCID) mice lacking both T and B lymphocytes. Nevertheless, it's still not clear about the underlying regulatory molecular mechanisms of schistosome growth and development by host's immune system. This study, therefore, detected and compared the serum metabolic profiles between the immunodeficient mice and immunocompetent mice (SCID mice vs. BALB/c mice) before and after S. japonicum infection (on the thirty-fifth day post infection using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS). Totally, 705 ion features in electrospray ionization in positive-ion mode (ESI+) and 242 ion features in ESI- mode were identified, respectively. First, distinct serum metabolic profiles were identified between SCID mice and BALB/c mice without S. japonicum worms infection. Second, uniquely perturbed serum metabolites and their enriched pathways were also obtained between SCID mice and BALB/c mice after S. japonicum infection, which included differential metabolites due to both species differences and differential responses to S. japonicum infection. The metabolic pathways analysis revealed that arachidonic acid metabolism, biosynthesis of unsaturated fatty acids, linoleic acid metabolism, glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchor biosynthesis, alpha-linolenic acid metabolism, glycerophospholipid metabolism, sphingolipid metabolism and purine metabolism were enriched based on the differential serum metabolites between SCID mice and BALB/c mice after S. japonicum infection, which was addressed to be related to the retarded growth and development of S. japonicum in SCID mice. These findings provide new clues to the underlying molecular events of host's systemic metabolic changes on the growth and development of S. japonicum worms, and also provide quite promising candidates for exploitation of drugs or vaccines against schistosome and schistosomiasis.

Comparative Metabonomic Investigations of Schistosoma japonicum From SCID Mice and BALB/c Mice: Clues to Developmental Abnormality of Schistosome in the Immunodeficient Host.

The growth and development of schistosome has been affected in the immunodeficient hosts. But it remains unresolved about the molecular mechanisms involved in the development and reproduction regulation of schistosomes. This study tested and compared the metabolic profiles of the male and female Schistosoma japonicum worms collected from SCID mice and BALB/c mice at 5 weeks post infection using liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) platform, in which the worms from SCID mice were the investigated organisms and the worms from BALB/c mice were used as the controls. There were 1015 ion features in ESI+ mode and 342 ion features in ESI- mode were identified after filtration by false discovery rate. Distinct metabolic profiles were found to clearly differentiate both male and female worms in SCID mice from those in BALB/c mice using multivariate modeling methods including the Principal Component Analysis (PCA), Partial Least Squares Discriminant Analysis (PLS-DA), and Orthogonal Partial Least Squares Discriminant Analysis (OPLS-DA). There were more differential metabolites in female worms than in male worms between SCID mice and BALB/c mice. And common and uniquely perturbed metabolites and pathways were identified among male and female worms from SCID mice when compared with BALB/c mice. The enriched metabolite sets of the differential metabolites in male worms between SCID mice and BALB/c mice included bile acid biosynthesis, taurine and hypotaurine metabolism, sphingolipid metabolism, retinol metabolism, purine metabolism, etc. And the enriched metabolite sets of differential metabolites in female worms included retinol metabolism, alpha linolenic acid and linoleic acid metabolism, purine metabolism, sphingolipid metabolism, glutamate metabolism, etc. Further detection and comparison in transcript abundance of genes of the perturbed retinol metabolism and its associated meiosis process in worms identified clues suggesting accumulated retinyl ester and perturbed meiotic process. These findings suggested an association between the schistosome with retarded growth and development in SCID mice and their perturbed metabolites and metabolic pathways, and provided a new insight into the growth and development regulation of S. japonicum worms from the metabolic level, which indicated great clues for discovery of drugs or vaccines against the parasites and disease with more researches.

Studies on the establishment of a co-culture system of lung stage Schistosoma japonicum with host cells.

Due to their role in eliciting protective Th1 cell-mediated immune responses in definitive hosts lung stage schistosomula are in the focus of intensive research. In vitro culture approaches in the past exhibited significant differences in gene expression profiles between lung stage schistosomula isolated from hosts and those cultured conventionally. Therefore, new approaches to culture schistosomula are of broad interest. In the present study, co-culture systems of schistosomula of Schistosoma japonicum and different vertebrate host cells were tested. Among these, human hepatic venous endothelial cells (ED25) turned out to be very suitable and interesting feeder cells. Compared with controls cultured in vitro or co-cultured with other cells, schistosomula co-cultured with ED25 cells shared more similarities in morphology and tegumental structures with schistosomula directly obtained from infected mice as microscopically determined. According to results from a suppression subtractive hybridization approach to compare transcriptional differences of co-cultured and host group or control group parasites, four candidate transcripts encoding cathepsin L precursor, heat shock protein 70, glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase, and programmed cell death protein 10 were shown to be differently expressed among the three groups by real-time PCR. Sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis analysis finally confirmed not only congruent protein patterns but also interesting differences among the compared schistosomula groups. The co-culture system between schistosomula of S. japonicum and ED25 cells established in the present study improved existing cultivation attempts. Although some differences to host-derived schistosomula were still observed, co-culture with ED25 cells positively influenced parasite morphology and gene expression in a more host-like manner.

[Effects of male worm extraction on ultrastructure of cultured vitelline cells from Schistosoma japonicum].

OBJECTIVE: To study the effects of male worm extraction on the proliferation and metabolic activity of cultured vitelline cells from Schistosoma japonicum. METHODS: The 28-day S. japonicum worms were harvested by perfusion. The male and female of them were isolated after asepsis separately. The vitelline glands of female worms were isolated, and the vitelline cells were harvested by the cold digestion, then they were inoculated with the moist system method on the walls of culture flasks. The cultured vitelline cells were randomly divided into test and control groups. The cells in the control group were cultured in routine media and those in the test group were cultured in routine media containing male worm extraction of the concentration of 100 microg/ml. When cultured for 7 days, the cells in both groups were prepared for observation under a transmission electron microscope. RESULTS: In the test group, the numbers of mature vitelline cells were more than those in the control group; the cytoplasm and nucleus of mature vitelline cells were homogeneous stain. The nucleolus and rough-surfaced endoplasm reticula were clear, the intervals of vitelline globules were clear and their numbers could be counted. The number of mitochondria was small and the electron density was low; abundant rough-surfaced endoplasm reticula were found in the immature vitelline cells. There were more immature vitelline cells in the control group. The cytoplasm of the cultured vitelline cells took changes of balloon, especially in mature vitelline cells, vitelline globules fused each other, no mitochondria were found; in immature vitelline cells, the space between vitelline globules and the membrane surrounding them broadened gradually and vitelline globules were released and uncovered; rough-surfaced endoplasmic reticula enlarged, space vacuolated and the ribosomes dropped; and the number of lipid increased. CONCLUSION: The S. japonicum male worm extraction can stimulate the development and survival of the cultured vitelline cells.

[An easy way to purify the inclusion body protein with high purity from prokaryotic expression cells].

To clone partial ORF of SjBMP and to construct the recombinant SjBMP-pET-28a(+) plasmids, and then to transform them into the competent cells E. coli BL21 (DE3), finally a positive clone was used to be induced by IPTG. The bacterial aggregates with target protein expressed as inclusion bodies were purified by the methods of Ni(2+)-NTA affinity purification under denaturation condition and SDS-PAGE gel extraction. The purified protein was used to immune rabbits and make antiserum against the SjBMP, and the antiserum were then used to identify the rSjBMP by Western blotting. The target protein obtained by Ni(2+)-NTA Agarose affinity purification was not pure with unspecific proteins, but the protein further purified by SDS-PAGE gel extraction and the dialysis bag horizontal electrophoresis was quite pure, and the recovery rate was more than 11.0%. Meanwhile, Western blotting was used to identify the recombinant SjBMP protein by antiserum, only a specific single strip appeared, which suggested the protein purified by this method kept its antigenicity, and could be used for common immunological studies. Therefore, the SDS-PAGE gel extraction combining with electroosmosis and dialysis recycling are good and easy to purify the inclusion body proteins.

[Primary culture of the cells from Oncomelania hupensis liver].

OBJECTIVE: To develop a method for primary culture of cells from Oncomelania hupensis liver, and to observe the distribution of succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) in the cultured cells. METHODS: O. hupensis was anatomized to separate the liver. Livers were soaked in 0.2% benzalkonium bromide and washed by physiological saline containing antibiotics in turns. Cells from the liver were harvested by mechanical mulling and filtering. The isolated cells were then incubated with methods of the combination culture and standing suspension culture, respectively. The culture medium for the cells was a mixture of Medium 199 (50 ml), 0.3% lactoalbumin hydrolysate dissolved in a balanced salt solution (BBS, 30 ml), and fetal calf serum (FCS, 20 ml) containing a moderate amount of antibiotics (100 IU/ml penicillin, 100 microg/ml streptomycin and 50 microg/ml kanamycin) at pH 7.2-7.4 under the temperature of 26.5 degrees C. The cells were stained by using Giemsa and Pearson methods (for SDH and LDH respectively) to observe the shape of cultured cells and enzyme distribution in cells. The living and stained cells were microscopically observed. RESULTS: Under microscope, the attached cells incubated with method of the combination culture showed round, elliptic, triangular and irregular shapes, with more round and elliptic cells. The size was approximately (4-16) microm x (6-20) microm in average. The clustered cells with an unclear nucleus and abundant and lucid cytoplasm were smaller than diffused cells with a large, obvious nuclei and less cytoplasm. Degeneration was observed after culturing for 5-7 days. The cultured cells could be divided into two types based on the color shown after Giemsa staining. The first type cells showed blue cytoplasm and mauve nuclei while the second type cells were opposite. There were blue granules in different sizes and shade in the cytoplasm after SDH and LDH staining. It was difficult for the cells to attach the wall of the culture flask using method of the standing suspension culture. The shape of the cultured cells were almost round with unclear nuclei, and the size was about (4-6) microm x (6-8) microm in average. The cells incubated with the standing suspension method were found to be contaminated after culturing for 3 days. CONCLUSION: The combination culture method is suitable for primary culture of the cells from O. hupensis liver and the cells show activities of both SDH and LDH in cytoplasm.

[Preliminary study on primary culture of cells from Oncomelania hupensis].

OBJECTIVE: To study the primary culture of cells from Oncomelania hupensis. METHODS: After washed in the sterile solution with antibiotic, the Oncomelania hupensis snails and their eggs were dissected. The soft tissue, liver, mantle and the embryo were collected and torn up respectively. Above tissues except mantle were digested by a mixture containing equal volumes of 0.25% trypsin and 0.02% EDTA for several hours at 4 degrees C. The cells after digestion were inoculated. Meanwhile, the tissue of mantle were inoculated by moist system method. All cells were cultured separately in medium 1/2 RP-MI1640 containing 20% calf serum and antibiotics (penicillin G 100 IU/ml, streptomycin 100 micrograms/ml) at pH 7.2-7.4 and temperature of 27 degrees C-28 degrees C. RESULTS: After the embryonic tissue was digested by tryspin/EDTA mixture, lots of dissociated cells were obtained. Some of the cells began to adhere to the culture flask surface after cultured for 5 days. The adhering cells were flat and polygonal, about(15-20 x 12-15) micron in diameter. But most of the cells were still suspending in the media. The suspending cells were round, usually about 8-12 microns in diameter with a few reaching 30-35 microns in diameter. These cells grew well and could be subcultured. CONCLUSION: Embryonic cells from Oncomelania hupensis can be primarily cultured and subcultured.

Ultrastructure of cultured cells from Schistosoma japonicum.

Ultrastructures and their dynamic changes of the cultured cells from Schistosoma japonicum were observed in the present experiments. Several types-including polygonal, round granular, deltaic fan-shaped and flagellated cells-were found in the cultures. The polygonal cells took a major ratio in the cultures from adult S. japonicum, while the majority from schistosomula was round granular cells. The ultrastuctures on the cell surface were different between the cells from adults and schistosomula. Some papilla-like tubercula, microvilli and pinocytotic vesicles were observed on the surface of adult cells, but none were found on schistosomula cells. However, more or less mitochondria, endoplasmic reticula, ribosomes and glycogen were observed in the cytoplasm of the cultured cells from both adults and schistosomula. Golgi complexes were rarely found. The nucleus was round, with round nucleolus inside and clear pores on the unit membrane. There was much lumpish heterochromatin located near to the nuclear membrane. Cells from different worm tissues had their own organelles. The germ cells, vitelline cells, flame cells, multinucleate subtegumental cells and nerve cells could be observed in the cultures from adults. The vitelline cells were the greatest in number and nerve cells were the least in number among them. Similarly, there were germ cells, sustentacular cells, flame cells, nerve cells, mast cells, muscle cells, multinucleate subtegumental cells, interstitial cells and penetration gland cells in the cultures from the schistomomula. In addition, a few division cells were also found. It indicated that the schistosomula cells had greater potential ability to proliferate than the adult cells in in vitro culture. Along with the prolongation of the culture time, degeneration of schistosomal cell occurred more and more. Generally, the electron density of cultures gradually got lower, the cristae of mitochondria blurred and disappeared and the mitochondria themselves swelled and finally vacuoled completely. Vitelline cells were most sensitive to the changes of the in vitro condition in all cultures. Their degeneration showed the following characteristics: (1) vitelline globules fused each other, the space between vitelline globules and the membrane surrounding them broadened gradually and vitelline globules were released and uncovered; (2) rough-surfaced endoplasmic reticula enlarged, vacuolated and the ribosomes dropped; and (3) the number and volume of lipid increased. The ultrastructural changes of most of the cultures from schistosomula had the following trends: (1) heterochromatin increased and euchromatin decreased gradually; and (2) endoplasmic reticula changed into short tubes and vacuoles and disappeared finally. The degenerative process of the cultures from S. japonicum consisted of necrosis according to the ultrastructural changes of the mitochondria, vitelline globules, chromatin and endoplasmic reticula within the cells. The changes of the above structures could be used to estimate whether the culture conditions were appropriate.