Proteomic Analysis of the Schistosoma mansoni Miracidium

Abstract

Despite extensive control efforts, schistosomiasis continues to be a major public health problem in developing nations in the tropics and sub-tropics. The miracidium, along with the cercaria, both of which are water-borne and free-living, are the only two stages in the life-cycle of Schistosoma mansoni which are involved in host invasion. Miracidia penetrate intermediate host snails and develop into sporocysts, which lead to cercariae that can infect humans. Infection of the snail host by the miracidium represents an ideal point at which to interrupt the parasite’s life-cycle. This research focuses on an analysis of the miracidium proteome, including those proteins that are secreted. We have identified a repertoire of proteins in the S. mansoni miracidium at 2 hours post-hatch, including proteases, venom allergen-like proteins, receptors and HSP70, which might play roles in snail-parasite interplay. Proteins involved in energy production and conservation were prevalent, as were proteins predicted to be associated with defence. This study also provides a strong foundation for further understanding the roles that neurohormones play in host-seeking by schistosomes, with the potential for development of novel anthelmintics that interfere with its various life-cycle stages.

Ethnopharmacological evaluation of schistosomicidal and cercaricidal activities of some selected medicinal plants from Ghana

“…Two stages in the life cycle of the parasitic helminth, miracidium and cercariae, are involved in the invasion of their hosts. Miracidium and cercariae respectively infect the intermediate host, snail, and definitive host, man [11]. Potential therapy targeted at any of the stages of the parasite's life cycle could lead to treatment success.…”

GPCR and IR genes in Schistosoma mansoni miracidia

“…A 2-day protocol was used to obtain relatively clean schistosome eggs and miracidia [45]. In brief, the mixture of eggs and mouse liver tissue were incubated with collagenase B, penicillin and streptomycin at 37 °C overnight, followed by fractionation using Percoll columns (8 ml Percoll + 32 ml of 0.25 M sucrose in 50 ml tubes).…”

eSnail: A transcriptome‐based molecular resource of the central nervous system for terrestrial gastropods

“…For the seven newly sequenced transcriptomes, we identified 304,693 SNVs in total. As shown in Figure 2b In summary, these SNVs provide a valuable resource for creating a catalogue of allelic variants for terrestrial gastropods genes and it will aid future studies of population genetics, marker-assisted pest control and gene identification aimed at developing man-made varieties (Wang, Zhao, Rotgans, et al, 2016). However, these genetic variants should be interpreted with caution due to potential unknown RNA editing events.…”

“…With the continued development of next‐generation sequencing technologies, it is clear that high‐throughput transcriptome data have become a critical resource for integrating genetics and ecology of nonmodel species (Uliano‐Silva et al., ; Wang et al., ). Currently, only neural RNA‐seq analysis of the Mediterranean snail Theba pisana , and to a lesser extent the common garden snail Helix aspersa has been accomplished for terrestrial gastropods (Adamson, Wang, Rotgans, et al., , ; Stewart, Wang, Koene, Storey, & Cummins, ; Zhao, Wang, Adamson, Storey, & Cummins, ).…”

“…Being one of the most highly adaptive classes of animals on earth, gastropods often pose threats both ecologically and socioeconomically. For example, some introduced gastropods have become invasive and cause very serious detrimental effects on agricultural ecosystems creating large financial burdens and destructive environmental impacts (Adamson, Wang, Zhao, et al, 2015;Wang, Zhao, Rotgans, et al, 2016). Others are associated with devastating disease, such as the aquatic pulmonate snail Biomphalaria, one of the intermediate hosts for trematodes (schistosomes) that cause the human disease schistosomiasis; this disease impacts as many as 240 million humans and causes up to 200,000 deaths each year (Barker, 2001).…”