Abstract
Secreted extracellular vesicles play an important role in pathogen-host interactions. Increased knowledge of schistosome extracellular vesicles could provide insights into schistosome-host interactions and enable the development of novel intervention strategies to inhibit parasitic processes and lessen disease transmission. Here, we describe biochemical characterization of Schistosoma japonicum exosome-like vesicles (S. japonicum EVs). A total of 403 proteins were identified in S. japonicum EVs, and bioinformatics analyses indicated that these proteins were mainly involved in binding, catalytic activity, and translation regulatory activity. Next, we characterized the population of small RNAs associated with S. japonicum EVs. Further studies demonstrated that mammalian cells could internalize S. japonicum EVs and transfer their cargo miRNAs to recipient cells. Additionally, we found that a specific miRNA, likely originating from a final host, ocu-miR-191–5p, is also associated with S. japonicum EVs. Overall, our findings demonstrate that S. japonicum EVs could be implicated in the pathogenesis of schistosomiasis via a mechanism involving the transfer of their cargo miRNAs to hosts. Our findings provide novel insights into the mechanisms of schistosome-host interactions.
Highlights
Exosomes are membrane-bound vesicles that are constantly secreted by various types of mammalian cells in normal and disease states[1,2]
We developed a protocol for exosome isolation using dialysis, ultrafiltration, and ultracentrifugation combined with a commercial kit (Fig. 1a)
We demonstrated that S. japonicum exosome-like vesicles (EVs) can be internalized by mammalian cells and transfer their associated miRNAs to recipient cells
Summary
Exosomes are membrane-bound vesicles that are constantly secreted by various types of mammalian cells in normal and disease states[1,2]. Detailed characterization of schistosome vesicles could provide a greater understanding of their functions in pathogen-host interaction. Increased knowledge of these vesicles could lead to the development of novel strategies to control schistosomiasis and the identification of novel biomarkers for schistosomiasis diagnosis. We identified a population of small RNAs associated with S. japonicum EVs. Functional studies demonstrated that secreted EVs are internalized by mammalian cells and can transfer their cargo miRNAs to recipient cells. Functional studies demonstrated that secreted EVs are internalized by mammalian cells and can transfer their cargo miRNAs to recipient cells These results demonstrate the regulatory potential of S. japonicum EVs in parasite-host interactions
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