Abstract
BackgroundSchistosomiasis caused by Schistosoma japonicum is among the most serious endemic zoonoses in China. To study interactions between schistosomula, the pre-adult juvenile stage, and hosts, it is important to study the functions of key genes involved in schistosomula growth and development. Programmed cell death protein 10 (pcdp10) is an important apoptosis-related gene with various biological functions. This study described the molecular characterization of S. japonicum PCDP10 (SjPCDP10) and evaluated its functions in schistosomula.MethodsReal-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) and western blot were used to detect Sjpcdp10 mRNA and protein levels, respectively, at different developmental stages. Immunolocalization was performed to determine SjPCDP10 expression in the parasite. RNA interference (RNAi) experiments were used to assess gene functions associated with SjPCDP10 in schistosomula growth and development.ResultsReal-time qPCR revealed that Sjpcdp10 was expressed during all investigated developmental stages and upregulated during schistosomula growth and development. Histochemical localization showed that SjPCDP10 was mainly distributed in the teguments of schistosomula in all investigated stages and part of the parenchymal area of 14-, 18-, and 21-day-old schistosomula. Following Sjpcdp10 knockdown by RNAi, the lengths, widths, areas, and volumes of schistosomula were significantly lower than those in the control group. Scanning electron microscopy showed that the body surfaces of schistosomula subjected to RNAi were seriously damaged, with few tegumental spines and sensory papillae. Transmission electron microscopy indicated that the teguments of Sjpcdp10-knockdown schistosomula were incomplete, the number of layers was reduced, and the thickness decreased significantly as compared with those in the control group. Furthermore, terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick-end labelling results showed that the rate of apoptosis in Sjpcdp10-knockdown schistosomula was significantly higher than that in the control group.ConclusionsSjpcdp10-knockdown influenced the growth and development of schistosomula. Therefore, our results indicated that SjPCDP10 contributes to the regulation of cell apoptosis and is essential for schistosomula growth and development.
Highlights
Schistosomiasis caused by Schistosoma japonicum is among the most serious endemic zoonoses in China
ClustalX 2.0 alignment of the SjPCDP10 sequence with PCD protein 10 (PCDP10) homologs from trematodes and other species revealed that SjPCDP10 shared the highest similarity with PCDP10 proteins from Schistosoma mansoni (96%) and Schistosoma haematobium (93%), followed by lower levels of similarity with those from Clonorchis sinensis (53%), Opisthorchis viverrini (53%), Homo sapiens (42%) and Mus musculus (42%) (Fig. 1a)
SjPCDP10 clustered with the PCDP10 proteins of trematodes (S. mansoni, S. haematobium, C. sinensis, Echinostoma caproni, Trichobilharzia regenti and O. viverrini), forming a common clade
Summary
Schistosomiasis caused by Schistosoma japonicum is among the most serious endemic zoonoses in China. Some vaccines have been developed, the ideal immunity rate has not been achieved [5] One reason for this might be that growth and developmental mechanisms and its interactions with the host are poorly understood [7]. To this end, the study of schistosomulumspecific molecules is important for identifying new functional genes as potential vaccine antigens or drug targets for human schistosomiasis and helpful in revealing mechanisms of growth, development, and interactions with the host. It is necessary to study the functions of the key genes involved in S. japonicum growth and development in more detail
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