Identification of host proteins in Echinococcus granulosus germinal cells culture

CLARA ALBANI; JULIA FABBRI; PATRICIA PENSEL; JOERG REINDERS; ELISSONDO, MARÍA CELINA

Mar del Plata

Congreso; Reunión Conjunta de la Sociedad Argentina de Investigación Clínica (SAIC), la Sociedad Argentina de Inmunología (SAI) y la Sociedad Argentina de Fisiología (SAFIS); 2018

SAIC

The parasite Echinococcus granulosus (Eg) is the causative agentof cystic echinococcosis, an important zoonosis that affects humansand ungulate animals. Platyhelminthes have a unique population ofundifferentiated stem cells, known as ?germinal cells? which representan interesting source for studying tissue turnover, growth andregeneration. Recently important advances have been introducedfor in vitro cultivation of Eg germinal cells which were mantained inculture for at least 24 month. This provides a useful tool for investigatinghost?parasite interactions. The host?parasite relationship incestode infections is complex. One characteristic of this bidirectionalmolecular communication is the uptake of host proteins by theparasite. Using a proteomic strategy, we describe the presence ofseveral host proteins in Eg germinal cell culture and discusse thepotential roles for some of these proteins. Eg primary cell culturewas obtained from hydatid cysts and mantained with weekly splittingduring 1-4 month. Then, 50 μl of cells were homogenized and thepeptide content was estimated. Aliquots of 100 μg protein per samplewere used for filter-aided sample preparation and the resultingpeptides were subjected to nano-LC-MS/MS-analysis. A combinedlibrary was set-up by combining the different runs using the ProteinPilot-software and Uniprot database. We identified 319 host proteins.There were 250 proteins that were assigned to GO terms formolecular function, 242 for cellular component and 226 for biologicalprocess. Regarding cellular localization we identified 31.6% secretedproteins, 28.3% cytoplasmic proteins and 14.8% mitochondrialproteins. Some of the most abundant proteins were serum albuminand several proteins related with the immune response such as Igmu chain C region and complement component C9. Our study providesvaluable data on the biological role of the host proteins incorporatedby the parasite, allowing novel insights into the molecularmechanisms involved in host?parasite interactions.