MIRNA EXPRESSION PROFILE AND TARGET PREDICTION IN THE ZOONOTIC PARASITE ECHINOCOCCUS MULTILOCULARIS.

MACCHIAROLI, NATALIA; ROSENZVIT M C.; MATÍAS GASTÓN PÉREZ; LAURA KAMENETZKY

Congreso; 1st WBDS-LA: Women in Bioinformatics & Data Science LA; 2020

Women in Bioinformatics and Data Science LA

The neglected zoonotic disease alveolar echinococcosis (AE) is caused by the metacestode stage of the helminth parasite Echinococcus multilocularis. Current chemotherapeutical treatment requires prolonged drug theraphy using benzimidazoles that are parasitostatic. Thus, novel strategies for the treatment of AE are urgently needed. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of small non-coding RNAs with a major role in regulation of gene expression in key biological processes. In previous work, we analyzed the miRNA expression profile of E. multilocularis in vivo metacestodes and in vitro primary cell cultures. However, current knowledge about miRNA expression and their potential roles in E. multilocularis development is still limited. In this work, we analyzed for the first known time the expression profile of E. multilocularis miRNAs throughout metacestode development in vitro and predicted miRNA functions. Small RNA libraries from different samples of E. multilocularis metacestodes, primary cell cultures and protoescoleces were sequenced. After miRNA identification, expression analyses and target prediction were performed. MiRNA expression profiling revealed a small number of highly expressed miRNAs in all samples analyzed. The high expression of these miRNAs was conserved in other cestodes, suggesting essential roles in development, survival or host-parasite interaction. Interestingly, some of these highly expressed miRNAs were absent or divergent from human host, suggesting their potential use as therapeutic targets. MiRNA differential expression analyses showed highly regulated miRNAs during the different transitions analyzed, suggesting a role in the regulation of developmental timing, host-parasite interaction, and/or in maintaining the unique developmental features of E. multilocularis metacestode. Predicted targets of highly expressed miRNAs reveals conserved functions and essential roles in parasite biology. The evolutionary conservation and expression analyses of E. multilocularis miRNAs throughout the metacestode development along with the functional analyses of their predicted targets might help to identify selective therapeutic targets for treatment and control of alveolar echinococcosis.