microRNA analysis of Taenia crassiceps cysticerci under praziquantel treatment and genome-wide identification of Taenia solium miRNAs

PEREZ, M.; MACCHIAROLI, N.; LICHTENSTEIN, G.; CONTI. G.; ASURMENDI, S.; MILONE, D.; STEGMAYER, G.; KAMENETZKY, L.; CUCHER, M.; ROSENZVIT M.

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR PARASITOLOGY

ELSEVIER SCI LTD

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2017

0020-7519

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs that have emergedas important regulators of gene expression and exert critical functionsin development and disease. In spite of the increased interest in miRNAsfrom helminth parasites, no information is available on miRNAs fromTaenia solium, the causative agent of cysticercosis, a neglected diseaseaffecting millions of persons worldwide. Here we performed acomprehensive analysis of miRNAs from Taenia crassiceps, a laboratorymodel for T. solium studies and also identified miRNAs in the T. soliumgenome. Moreover, we analysed the effect of praziquantel, one of the twomain drugs used for cysticercosis treatment, on the miRNA expressionprofile of T. crassiceps cysticerci. Using small RNA-seq and twoindependent algorithms for miRNA prediction as well as Northern blotvalidation, we found transcriptional evidence of 39 miRNA loci in T.crassiceps. Since miRNAs were mapped to the T. solium genome, thesemiRNAs are considered common to both parasites. The miRNA expressionprofile of T. crassiceps was biased to the same set of highly expressedmiRNAs reported in other cestodes. We found a significant alteredexpression of miR-7b under praziquantel treatment. In addition, wesearched for miRNAs predicted to target genes related to drug response.We performed a detailed target prediction for miR-7b and found genesrelated to drug action. We report an initial approach to study the effectof sub-lethal drug treatment on miRNA expression in a cestode parasite,which provides a platform for further studies of miRNA involvement indrug effects. The results of our work could be applied to drugdevelopment and provide basic knowledge of cysticercosis and otherneglected helminth infections.