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

ANCAROLA, M.E.; MARCILLA, A; HERZ, M.; MACCHIAROLI, N.; MALDONADO, L.; PÉREZ, M.; BREHM, K.; PONCINI, C.; ROSENZVIT, M.; CUCHER, M.

Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires

Congreso; Reunión Conjunta de Sociedades de Biociencias; 2017

Sociedad Argentina de Investigación Clínica

Cestode parasites are flatworms with complex life cycles that affect almost all vertebrate species and can cause severe neglected tropical diseases such as echinococcosis and cysticercosis. Cross-species communication is crucial for parasites to generate a proper environment for their establishment and reproduction within the host and may be achieved by extracellular vesicle (EV) transfer. EV are membranous structures that carry various molecules, such as microRNAs (miRNAs) which are short non-coding RNAs that regulate gene expression. The secretion of EV carrying miRNAs was reported in helminth parasites and recently we described this RNA secretion mechanism in the cestodes Mesocestoides corti and Taenia crassiceps. Here, we aimed to determine if larval stages of the zoonotic cestode Echinococcus multilocularis secrete RNA-containing EV and to predict candidate host and parasite target mRNAs of cestode intravesicular miRNAs. For this, EV-enriched samples from parasite conditioned media and hydatid fluid (HF) were obtained by differential centrifugation. By transmission electron microscopy, we show that metacestode EV are retained by the laminated layer and cannot reach the extra-parasite milieu. Capillary electrophoresis analyses showed that HF and protoscoleces EV contain small RNA (sRNA) (