scholarly journals Long non-coding RNA levels can be modulated by 5-azacytidine in Schistosoma mansoni

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Murilo S. Amaral ◽  
Lucas F. Maciel ◽  
Gilbert O. Silveira ◽  
Giovanna G. O. Olberg ◽  
João V. P. Leite ◽  
...  

AbstractSchistosoma mansoni is a flatworm that causes schistosomiasis, a neglected tropical disease that affects more than 200 million people worldwide. There is only one drug indicated for treatment, praziquantel, which may lead to parasite resistance emergence. The ribonucleoside analogue 5-azacytidine (5-AzaC) is an epigenetic drug that inhibits S. mansoni oviposition and ovarian development through interference with parasite transcription, translation and stem cell activities. Therefore, studying the downstream pathways affected by 5-AzaC in S. mansoni may contribute to the discovery of new drug targets. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are transcripts longer than 200 nucleotides with low or no protein coding potential that have been involved in reproduction, stem cell maintenance and drug resistance. We have recently published a catalog of lncRNAs expressed in S. mansoni life-cycle stages, tissues and single cells. However, it remains largely unknown if lncRNAs are responsive to epigenetic drugs in parasites. Here, we show by RNA-Seq re-analyses that hundreds of lncRNAs are differentially expressed after in vitro 5-AzaC treatment of S. mansoni females, including intergenic, antisense and sense lncRNAs. Many of these lncRNAs belong to co-expression network modules related to male metabolism and are also differentially expressed in unpaired compared with paired females and ovaries. Half of these lncRNAs possess histone marks at their genomic loci, indicating regulation by histone modification. Among a selected set of 8 lncRNAs, half of them were validated by RT-qPCR as differentially expressed in females, and some of them also in males. Interestingly, these lncRNAs are also expressed in other life-cycle stages. This study demonstrates that many lncRNAs potentially involved with S. mansoni reproductive biology are modulated by 5-AzaC and sheds light on the relevance of exploring lncRNAs in response to drug treatments in parasites.

eLife ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bo Wang ◽  
Jayhun Lee ◽  
Pengyang Li ◽  
Amir Saberi ◽  
Huiying Yang ◽  
...  

Schistosomes are parasitic flatworms infecting hundreds of millions of people. These parasites alternate between asexual reproduction in molluscan hosts and sexual reproduction in mammalian hosts; short-lived, water-borne stages infect each host. Thriving in such disparate environments requires remarkable developmental plasticity, manifested by five body plans deployed throughout the parasite’s life cycle. Stem cells in Schistosoma mansoni provide a potential source for such plasticity; however, the relationship between stem cells from different life-cycle stages remains unclear, as does the origin of the germline, required for sexual reproduction. Here, we show that subsets of larvally derived stem cells are likely sources of adult stem cells and the germline. We also identify a novel gene that serves as the earliest marker for the schistosome germline, which emerges inside the mammalian host and is ultimately responsible for disease pathology. This work reveals the stem cell heterogeneity driving the propagation of the schistosome life cycle.


1985 ◽  
Vol 5 (11) ◽  
pp. 3041-3047
Author(s):  
D P Jasmer ◽  
J E Feagin ◽  
K Stuart

Transcription of a maxicircle segment from Trypanosoma brucei 164 that contains nucleotide (nt) sequences corresponding to cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) and unassigned reading frames (URFs) 4 and 5 of other mitochondrial systems was investigated. Two major transcripts that differ in size by ca. 200 nt map to each of the COI and URF4 genes, while a single major transcript maps to URF5. In total RNA, the larger COI transcript is more abundant in procyclic forms (PFs) than in bloodstream forms (BFs), the smaller COI and both URF4 transcripts have similar abundances in both forms, and the single URF5 transcript is more abundant in BF than PF. These patterns of expression differ in poly(A)+ RNA as a result of a higher proportion of poly(A)+ mitochondrial transcripts in PFs than in BFs. In addition, small (300- to 500-nt) RNAs that are transcribed from C-rich sequences located between putative protein-coding genes also exhibit diverse patterns of expression between life cycle stages and differences in polyadenylation in PFs compared with BFs. These observations suggest that multiple processes regulate the differential expression of mitochondrial genes in T. brucei.


2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (24) ◽  
pp. 1907966 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pinak Samal ◽  
Philipp Maurer ◽  
Clemens Blitterswijk ◽  
Roman Truckenmüller ◽  
Stefan Giselbrecht

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gilbert O. Silveira ◽  
Murilo S. Amaral ◽  
Helena S. Coelho ◽  
Lucas F. Maciel ◽  
Adriana S. A. Pereira ◽  
...  

AbstractReverse-transcription quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) is the most used, fast, and reproducible method to confirm large-scale gene expression data. The use of stable reference genes for the normalization of RT-qPCR assays is recognized worldwide. No systematic study for selecting appropriate reference genes for usage in RT-qPCR experiments comparing gene expression levels at different Schistosoma mansoni life-cycle stages has been performed. Most studies rely on genes commonly used in other organisms, such as actin, tubulin, and GAPDH. Therefore, the present study focused on identifying reference genes suitable for RT-qPCR assays across six S. mansoni developmental stages. The expression levels of 25 novel candidates that we selected based on the analysis of public RNA-Seq datasets, along with eight commonly used reference genes, were systematically tested by RT-qPCR across six developmental stages of S. mansoni (eggs, miracidia, cercariae, schistosomula, adult males and adult females). The stability of genes was evaluated with geNorm, NormFinder and RefFinder algorithms. The least stable candidate reference genes tested were actin, tubulin and GAPDH. The two most stable reference genes suitable for RT-qPCR normalization were Smp_101310 (Histone H4 transcription factor) and Smp_196510 (Ubiquitin recognition factor in ER-associated degradation protein 1). Performance of these two genes as normalizers was successfully evaluated with females maintained unpaired or paired to males in culture for 8 days, or with worm pairs exposed for 16 days to double-stranded RNAs to silence a protein-coding gene. This study provides reliable reference genes for RT-qPCR analysis using samples from six different S. mansoni life-cycle stages.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Yinyin Qu ◽  
Hongyi Li ◽  
Chengmei Shi ◽  
Min Qian ◽  
Ning Yang ◽  
...  

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) play important roles in brain function modulation and neurodegenerative diseases. However, whether lncRNA regulations are involved in the mechanisms of perioperative neurocognitive disorders, especially in anesthesia-related brain dysfunction, remain unknown. Therefore, we explored the expression and regulation pattern profiles of lncRNAs in the hippocampus of aged rats after sevoflurane anesthesia. Three lncRNAs and 772 protein-coding genes were identified by microarray analysis and evidenced by in vitro and in vivo experiments as differentially expressed. Functional annotation and differentially expressed- (DE-) lncRNA-mRNA coexpression networks reveal that DE-lncRNAs are associated with mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative stress, aging-related metabolism alterations, DNA damage, and apoptosis, as well as neurodegenerative features during sevoflurane anesthesia. These results suggest that lncRNAs play roles in general anesthesia-related brain function modulation during the perioperative context and provide insights into the lncRNA-related modulation mechanisms and targets.


1988 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 123-131 ◽  
Author(s):  
David W. Dunne ◽  
Anna M. Grabowska ◽  
Anthony J. C. Fulford ◽  
Anthony E. Butterworth ◽  
Robert F. Sturrock ◽  
...  

Parasitology ◽  
1984 ◽  
Vol 88 (1) ◽  
pp. 163-177 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Fry ◽  
D. C. Jenkins

SUMMARYThe effects of mitochondrial inhibitors on the in vitro development of Nippostrongylus brasiliensis have been studied in free-living and parasitic life-cycle stages. Mitochondrial inhibitors were chosen as being representative of established electron transport inhibitors and oxidative phosphorylation inhibitors and uncouplers of the classical mammalian respiratory chain. All mitochondrial inhibitors tested were highly effective in killing or retarding development of free-living stages of N. brasiliensis. Free-living stages were particularly susceptible to such inhibitors upon hatching of embryonated eggs to 1st-stage larvae. Concentrations of inhibitors effective against free-living stages were consistent with their level of inhibition against isolated mitochondria from embryonated eggs and 3rd-stage infective larvae. Results suggest an absolute requirement in the development of free-living stages for the mammalian-like respiratory chain and associated oxidative phosphorylation. Electron transport inhibitors were effective in retarding at least the initial development of 4th-stage larvae to adults, but only antimycin A and azide produced a lasting effect leading to worm death. Oxidative phosphorylation inhibitors and uncouplers were ineffective against developing parasitic stages of N. brasiliensis. Experiments on whole-worm respiration indicated that most electron transport inhibitors were able to penetrate the adult worm, but oxidative phosphorylation inhibitors were without effect on whole-worm respiration. Results suggest that the mammalian-like electron transport chain is a necessary requirement to adult N. brasiliensis, but oxidative phosphorylation in the adult worm may not be required for development and survival in vitro although it could be necessary to support the parasite in vivo.


Blood ◽  
1992 ◽  
Vol 80 (12) ◽  
pp. 3044-3050 ◽  
Author(s):  
S Okada ◽  
H Nakauchi ◽  
K Nagayoshi ◽  
S Nishikawa ◽  
Y Miura ◽  
...  

c-kit is expressed on hematopoietic stem cells and progenitor cells, but not on lymphohematopoietic differentiated cells. Lineage marker- negative, c-kit-positive (Lin-c-kit+) bone marrow cells were fractionated by means of Ly6A/E or Sca-1 expression. Lin-c-kit+Sca-1+ cells, which consisted of 0.08% of bone marrow nucleated cells, did not contain day-8 colony-forming units-spleen (CFU-S), but 80% were day-12 CFU-S. One hundred cells rescued the lethally irradiated mice and reconstituted hematopoiesis. On the other hand, 2 x 10(3) of Lin-c- kit+Sca-1- cells formed 20 day-8 and 11 day-12 spleen colonies, but they could not rescue the lethally irradiated mice. These data indicate that Lin-c-kit+Sca-1+ cells are primitive hematopoietic stem cells and that Sca-1-cells do not contain stem cells that reconstitute hematopoiesis. Lin-c-kit+Sca-1+ cells formed no colonies in the presence of stem cell factor (SCF) or interleukin-6 (IL-6), and only 10% of them formed colonies in the presence of IL-3. However, approximately 50% of them formed large colonies in the presence of IL-3, IL-6, and SCF. Moreover, when single cells were deposited into culture medium by fluorescence-activated cell sorter clone sorting system, 40% of them proliferated on a stromal cell line (PA-6) and proliferated for more than 2 weeks. In contrast, 15% of the Lin-c- kit+Sca-1-cells formed colonies in the presence of IL-3, but no synergistic effects were observed in combination with SCF plus IL-6 and/or IL-3. Approximately 10% proliferated on PA-6, but most of them degenerated within 2 weeks. The population ratio of c-kit+Sca-1+ to c-kit+Sca-1- increased 2 and 4 days after exposure to 5-fluorouracil (5-FU). These results are consistent with the relative enrichment of highly proliferative colony-forming cells by 5-FU. These data show that, although c-kit is found both on the primitive hematopoietic stem cells and progenitors, Sca-1+ cells are more primitive and respond better than Sca-1- cells to a combination of hematopoietic factors, including SCF and stromal cells.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document