Echinococcus multilocularis shows stage-dependent secretion of extracellular vesicles with small RNA cargo

MARIA EUGENIA ANCAROLA; ANTONIO MARCILLA; HERZ M; NATALIA MACCHIAROLI; LUCAS MALDONADO; MATÍAS PÉREZ; BREHM K; CAROLINA V. PONCINI; MARA ROSENZVIT; MARCELA CUCHER

Congreso; REUNIÓN CONJUNTA DE SOCIEDADES DE BIOCIENCIAS; 2017

Cestode parasites are flatworms with complex life cycles thataffect almost all vertebrate species and can cause severe neglectedtropical diseases such as echinococcosis and cysticercosis.Cross-species communication is crucial for parasites to generate aproper environment for their establishment and reproduction withinthe host and may be achieved by extracellular vesicle (EV) transfer.EV are membranous structures that carry various molecules, suchas microRNAs (miRNAs) which are short non-coding RNAs that regulategene expression. The secretion of EV carrying miRNAs wasreported in helminth parasites and recently we described this RNAsecretion mechanism in the cestodes Mesocestoides corti and Taeniacrassiceps.Here, we aimed to determine if larval stages of the zoonotic cestodeEchinococcus multilocularis secrete RNA-containing EV and topredict candidate host and parasite target mRNAs of cestode intravesicularmiRNAs.For this, EV-enriched samples from parasite conditioned mediaand hydatid fluid (HF) were obtained by differential centrifugation.By transmission electron microscopy, we show that metacestodeEV are retained by the laminated layer and cannot reach the extra-parasite milieu. Capillary electrophoresis analyses showed thatHF and protoscoleces EV contain small RNA (sRNA) (