Protein phosphorylation networks in spargana of Spirometra erinaceieuropaei revealed by phosphoproteomic analysis

Wei Liu,Yisong Liu,Haoji Zhang,Aibing Wang,Asmaa M I Abuzeid,Lei Tan,Guoqing Li,Xueping Wan,Hailin Tang

doi:10.1186/s13071-020-04119-w

Abstract

BackgroundSparganosis caused by Spirometra erinaceieuropaei spargana is a zoonotic parasitic infection that has been reported in many countries, including China, Japan, Thailand and Korea, as well as European countries and the USA. The biological and clinical significance of the parasite have previously been reported. Although the genomic and transcriptomic analysis of S. erinaceieuropaei provided insightful views about the development and pathogenesis of this species, little knowledge has been acquired in terms of post-translational regulation that is essential for parasite growth, development and reproduction. Here, we performed site-specific phosphoproteomic profiling, with an aim to obtain primary information about the global phosphorylation status of spargana.ResultsA total of 3228 phosphopeptides and 3461 phosphorylation sites were identified in 1758 spargana proteins. The annotated phosphoproteins were involved in a variety of biological pathways, including cellular (28%), metabolic (20%) and single-organism (17%) processes. The functional enrichment of phosphopeptides by Gene Ontology analysis indicated that most spargana phosphoproteins were related to the cytoskeleton cellular compartment, signaling molecular function, and a variety of biological processes, including a molecular function regulator, guanyl-nucleotide exchange factor activity, protein kinase activities, and calcium ion binding. The highly enriched pathways of phosphorylation proteins include the phosphatidylinositol signaling system, phagosome, endocytosis, inositol phosphate metabolism, terpenoid backbone biosynthesis, and peroxisome. Domain analysis identified an EF-hand domain and pleckstrin homology domain among the key domains.ConclusionsTo our knowledge, this study performed the first global phosphoproteomic analysis of S. erinaceieuropaei. The dataset reported herein provides a valuable resource for future studies on the signaling pathways of this important zoonotic parasite.

Highlights

Sparganosis caused by Spirometra erinaceieuropaei spargana is a zoonotic parasitic infection that has been reported in many countries, including China, Japan, Thailand and Korea, as well as European countries and the USA
Establishment of the spargana phosphoproteome The development of a parasitic infection in a host occurs via signals exchanged between the host and the parasite [7]
To the best of our knowledge, we report the first global phosphoproteomic dataset of S. erinaceieuropaei spargana

Summary

Introduction

Sparganosis caused by Spirometra erinaceieuropaei spargana is a zoonotic parasitic infection that has been reported in many countries, including China, Japan, Thailand and Korea, as well as European countries and the USA. Liu et al Parasites Vectors (2020) 13:248 well as drinking water contaminated with infected copepods or using frog flesh as a poultice on eyes or wounds, a common practice in traditional Chinese medicine [3]. Once inside their host, spargana are able to reach many sites, including eyes, abdominal cavity, subcutaneous tissue and brain, causing a variety of symptoms depending on their location, such as blindness, headaches, convulsions and even death [4, 5]

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Conclusion