Dataset Information

Differential expression of microRNA between normally developed and underdeveloped female worms of Schistosoma japonicum.

ABSTRACT: Eggs produced by bisexual infected mature female worms (MF) of Schistosoma japonicum are important in the transmission of the parasite and responsible for the pathogenesis of schistosomiasis. The single-sex infected female worms (SF) cannot mature and do not produce normal eggs; also they do not induce severe damage to the host. In this study, the microRNA (miRNA) expression profiles of 25d MF and 25d SF were investigated through Solexa deep-sequencing technology to explore the developmental mechanisms of schistosome female worms. There were 36 differentially expressed miRNA, 20 up-regulated and 16 down-regulated found in MF/SF worms, including some development related miRNA such as bantam (ban), let-7, miR-124, miR-8, miR-1, miR-7. There were 166 target genes of up-regulated miRNA and 201 target genes of down-regulated miRNA after comparing the target gene prediction software results with RNA-Seq transcriptome results. Analysis of the target genes shows that different ones are involved in MF and SF worms in Gene Ontology terms, with a similar situation in KEGG. This observation indicates that different genes regulated by differentially expressed miRNA take part in MF and SF and lead to differential sexual status. This means that the sexual status of female worms is regulated by miRNA.

SUBMITTER: Han Y

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7519503 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Differential expression of microRNA between normally developed and underdeveloped female worms of Schistosoma japonicum.

Han Yu Y Feng Jintao J Ren Yuqi Y Wu Luobin L Li Hao H Liu Jinming J Jin Yamei Y

Veterinary research 20200925 1

Eggs produced by bisexual infected mature female worms (MF) of Schistosoma japonicum are important in the transmission of the parasite and responsible for the pathogenesis of schistosomiasis. The single-sex infected female worms (SF) cannot mature and do not produce normal eggs; also they do not induce severe damage to the host. In this study, the microRNA (miRNA) expression profiles of 25d MF and 25d SF were investigated through Solexa deep-sequencing technology to explore the developmental mec ...[more]

PMID: 32977838

Similar Datasets

Project description:BackgroundSchistosoma mekongi is one of five major causative agents of human schistosomiasis and is endemic to communities along the Mekong River in southern Lao People's Democratic Republic (Laos) and northern Cambodia. Sporadic cases of schistosomiasis have been reported in travelers and immigrants who have visited endemic areas. Schistosoma mekongi biology and molecular biology is poorly understood, and few S. mekongi gene and transcript sequences are available in public databases.ResultsTranscriptome sequencing (RNA-Seq) of male and female S. mekongi adult worms (a total of three biological replicates for each sex) were analyzed and the results demonstrated that approximately 304.9 and 363.3 million high-quality clean reads with quality Q30 (> 90%) were obtained from male and female adult worms, respectively. A total of 119,604 contigs were assembled with an average length of 1273 nt and an N50 of 2017 nt. From the contigs, 20,798 annotated protein sequences and 48,256 annotated transcript sequences were obtained using BLASTP and BLASTX searches against the UniProt Trematoda database. A total of 4658 and 3509 transcripts were predominantly expressed in male and female worms, respectively. Male-biased transcripts were mostly involved in structural organization while female-biased transcripts were typically involved in cell differentiation and egg production. Interestingly, pathway enrichment analysis suggested that genes involved in the phosphatidylinositol signaling pathway may play important roles in the cellular processes and reproductive systems of S. mekongi worms.ConclusionsWe present comparative transcriptomic analyses of male and female S. mekongi adult worms, which provide a global view of the S. mekongi transcriptome as well as insights into differentially-expressed genes associated with each sex. This work provides valuable information and sequence resources for future studies of gene function and for ongoing whole genome sequencing efforts in S. mekongi.

Project description:The reproductive development and maturation of female schistosomes are crucial since their released eggs are responsible for the host immunopathology and transmission of schistosomiasis. However, little is known about the nutrients required by female Schistosoma japonicum during its sexual maturation. We evaluated the promoting effect of several nutrients (calf serum, red blood cells (RBCs), ATP and hypoxanthine) on the reproductive development of pre-adult females at 18 days post infection (dpi) from mixed infections and at 50 dpi from unisexual infections of laboratory mice in basic medium RPMI-1640. We found RBCs, rather than other nutrients, promoted the female sexual maturation and egg production with significant morphological changes. In 27% of females (18 dpi) from mixed infections that paired with males in vitro on day 14, vitelline glands could be positively stained by Fast Blue B; and in 35% of females (50 dpi) from unisexual infections on day 21, mature vitelline cells were observed. Infertile eggs were detected among both groups. To analyze which component of mouse RBCs possesses the stimulating effect, RBCs were fractionated and included in media. However, the RBC fractions failed to stimulate development of the female reproductive organs. In addition, bovine hemoglobin hydrolysate, digested by neutral protease, was found to exhibit the promoting activity instead of untreated bovine hemoglobin. The other protein hydrolysate, lactalbumin hydrolysate, exhibited a similar effect with bovine hemoglobin hydrolysate. Using quantitative RT-PCR, we found the expression levels of four reproduction-related genes were significantly stimulated by RBCs. These data indicate that RBCs provide essential nutrients for the sexual maturation of female S. japonicum and that the protein component of RBCs appeared to constitute the key nutrient. These findings would improve laboratory culture of pre-adult schistosomes to adult worms in medium with well-defined components, which is important to investigate the function of genes related to female sexual maturation.

Project description:BackgroundSchistosomiasis japonica remains a significant public health problem in China and Southeast Asian countries. The most typical and serious outcome of the chronic oriental schistosomiasis is the progressive granuloma and fibrosis in the host liver, which has been a major medical challenge. However, the molecular mechanism underling the hepatic pathogenesis is still not clear.Methodology and principal findingsUsing microarrays, we quantified the temporal gene expression profiles in the liver of Schistosoma japonicum-infected BALB/c mice at 15, 30, and 45 day post infection (dpi) with that from uninfected mice as controls. Gene expression alternation associated with liver damage was observed in the initial phase of infection (dpi 15), which became more magnificent with the onset of egg-laying. Up-regulated genes were dominantly associated with inflammatory infiltration, whereas down-regulated genes primarily led to the hepatic functional disorders. Simultaneously, microRNA profiles from the same samples were decoded by Solexa sequencing. More than 130 miRNAs were differentially expressed in murine liver during S. japonicum infection. MiRNAs significantly dysregulated in the mid-phase of infection (dpi 30), such as mmu-miR-146b and mmu-miR-155, may relate to the regulation of hepatic inflammatory responses, whereas miRNAs exhibiting a peak expression in the late phase of infection (dpi 45), such as mmu-miR-223, mmu-miR-146a/b, mmu-miR-155, mmu-miR-34c, mmu-miR-199, and mmu-miR-134, may represent a molecular signature of the development of schistosomal hepatopathy. Further, a dynamic miRNA-gene co-expression network in the progression of infection was constructed.Conclusions and significanceThis study presents a global view of dynamic expression of both mRNA and miRNA transcripts in murine liver during S. japonicum infection, and highlights that miRNAs may play a variety of regulatory roles in balancing the immune responses during the development of hepatic pathology. The data provide robust information for further researches on the pathogenesis and molecular events of hepatopathy induced by schistosome eggs.

Project description:BackgroundSchistosoma japonicum (S. japonicum) is an important zoonotic parasite that is prevalent in China and parts of Southeast Asia. Water buffaloes are an important reservoir and the main transmission sources of S. japonicum. However, self-curing and resistance to re-infection have been observed in water buffaloes.ResultsIn this study, we compared the morphometry and differences in transcriptional expression of adult S. japonicum worms recovered from primary-infected and re-infected water buffaloes using Illumina RNA-sequencing (RNA-Seq) technology. Results of morphometry analysis revealed that adult S. japonicum worms recovered from re-infected water buffaloes were runtish with smaller organs. The ventral length of male worms was shorter in re-infected buffaloes (328 ± 13 vs 273 ± 8 µm, P < 0.05), and in female worms the oral sucker length (44 ± 3 vs 33 ± 5 µm, P < 0.05), ovary length (578 ± 23 vs 297 ± 27 µm, P < 0.05) and width (150 ± 8 vs 104 ± 9 µm, P < 0.05) were shorter, with fewer eggs in the uteri (41 ± 2 vs 12 ± 1, P < 0.05). Of 13,605 identified genes, 112 were differentially expressed, including 51 upregulated and 61 downregulated genes, in worms from re-infected compared with primary-infected water buffaloes. Gene ontology (GO) enrichment analysis revealed that GO terms such as "oxidation-reduction process", "calcium-dependent phospholipid binding", "lipid binding" and "calcium ion binding" were significantly enriched in downregulated genes, whereas GO terms related to metabolism and biosynthesis were significantly enriched in upregulated genes. The results revealed that the downregulation of some important genes might contribute to a reduction in worm numbers and maldevelopment of surviving worms in re-infected water buffaloes. Furthermore, upregulation of genes related to metabolic processes and biosynthesis might be a compensatory mechanism of worms in disadvantageous environments.ConclusionsTo our knowledge, our results present the first large-scale transcriptional expression study identifying the differences between adult S. japonicum worms from primary-infected and re-infected water buffaloes, and particularly emphasize differential expression that may affect the survival and growth of worms in re-infected water buffalo. This will provide new insight into screening for anti-schistosome targets and vaccine candidates.

Dataset Information

Differential expression of microRNA between normally developed and underdeveloped female worms of Schistosoma japonicum.

Publications

Differential expression of microRNA between normally developed and underdeveloped female worms of Schistosoma japonicum.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets