Comparative Proteomic Analysis of Serum from Pigs Experimentally Infected with Trichinella spiralis, Trichinella britovi, and Trichinella pseudospiralis

Abstract

Although the available proteomic studies have made it possible to identify and characterize Trichinella stage-specific proteins reacting with infected host-specific antibodies, the vast majority of these studies do not provide any information about changes in the global proteomic serum profile of Trichinella-infested individuals. In view of the above, the present study aimed to examine the protein expression profile of serum obtained at 13 and 60 days postinfection (d.p.i.) from three groups of pigs experimentally infected with Trichinella spiralis, Trichinella britovi, and Trichinella pseudospiralis and from uninfected, control pigs by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE) followed by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry. The comparative proteomic analysis of the T. spiralis group vs. the control group revealed 5 differently expressed spots at both 13 and 60 d.p.i. Experimental infection with T. britovi induced significant expression changes in 3 protein spots at 13 d.p.i. and in 6 protein spots at 60 d.p.i. in comparison with the control group. Paired analyses between the group infected with T. pseudospiralis and the uninfected control group revealed 6 differently changed spots at 13 d.p.i. and 2 differently changed spots at 60 d.p.i. Among these 27 spots, 15 were successfully identified. Depending on the Trichinella species triggering the infection and the time point of serum collection, they were IgM heavy-chain constant region, antithrombin III-precursor, immunoglobulin gamma-chain, clusterin, homeobox protein Mohawk, apolipoprotein E precursor, serum amyloid P-component precursor, Ig lambda chains, complement C3 isoform X1, and apolipoprotein A-I. Our results demonstrate that various Trichinella species and different phases of the invasion produce a distinct, characteristic proteomic pattern in the serum of experimentally infected pigs.

Identification and profiling of Trichinella spiralis circulating antigens and proteins in sera of mice with trichinellosis

“…A comparative proteomic analysis of T . pseudospiralis -infected pig sera reported the down-regulation of this protein [ 38 ]. Therefore, apolipoprotein A-I is down-regulated in both pigs and mice after Trichinella infection.…”

Distribution of Trichinella spiralis, Trichinella britovi, and Trichinella pseudospiralis in the Diaphragms and T. spiralis and T. britovi in the Tongues of Experimentally Infected Pigs

“…Furthermore, Gondek et al (4) found that the larval density in the tongues of pigs experimentally infected with 300 ML of T. spiralis was significantly lower as compared with this density in diaphragms and constituted only 53% of that found in the latter tissue type. However, when a higher infective dose was used (1,000 T. spiralis), the intensities of infection in the tongues and diaphragms of the infected pigs were comparable (5). Contrastingly, a study applying a comprehensive statistical approach proved that in the case of T. spiralis infection, it was the pig tongue which exhibited the statistically highest intensity of Trichinella larvae infection (6).…”

Applied Proteomics in ‘One Health’

“…Gondek et al [ 222 ] used proteomics to examine changes in host serum proteins at early (13 days after infection) and late (60 days after infection) stages in pigs experimentally infected with T. spiralis , T. britovi or T. pseudospiralis using 2-DE gels and MALDI-TOF. Comparisons between animals infected with each of these species and uninfected controls revealed in total 27 proteins, 15 of which could be identified with mass spectrometry.…”