Abstract
BackgroundBabesia is a protozoan parasite in red blood cells of some vertebrates. Some species of Babesia can cause zoonoses and cause great harm. As the largest immune organ in mammals, the spleen plays an important role in defending against Babesia infection. When infected with Babesia, the spleen is seriously injured, but it still actively initiates immunomodulatory responses.MethodsIn order to explore the molecular mechanisms underlying the immune regulation and self-repair of the spleen in response to infection, this study used data-independent acquisition (DIA) quantitative proteomics to analyse changes in expression levels of global proteins and changes in phosphorylation modification in spleen tissue after Babesia microti infection in mice.ResultsAfter the mice were infected with B. microti, their spleen were seriously damaged.Using bioinfor-matics methods to analyze the dynamic changes of a large number of proteins, we found that spleen still initiated immune response to deal with the infection, in which immune-related proteins played an important role, including CTSD, IFI44, ILF2, ILF, and STAT5A. In addition, some proteins related to iron metabolism were also involved in the repair of spleen against B. microti infection, including serotransferrin, lactoferrin, TfR1, and GCL. At the same time, the expression and phosphorylation of proteins related to the growth and development of the spleen also changed, including PKC-δ and MAPK3/1, Grb2, and PAK2. ConclusionsImmune-related proteins, iron metabolism-related proteins and growth and development-related proteins play an important important role in the regulation of spleen injury and maintenance of homeostasis. This study will provide important bases for the diagnosis and treatment of babesiosis.
Quantitative proteomics reveals that dormancy-related proteins mediate the attenuation in mycobacterium strains
