microRNAs in cestode parasites

CUCHER M; KAMENETZKY L; PRADA L; MACCHIAROLI N; KISS F; ASURMENDI S; BREHM K; ROSENZVIT M

Congreso; XLVIII Reunión Anual de la Sociedad Argentina de Investigación Bioquímica y Biología Molecular; 2012

Objective: Echinococcus spp are endemic cestode parasites of sanitary importance and constitute an interesting model for developmental studies. Our objective is to study the mechanisms of development of Echinococcus spp focusing on the role of small RNAs, in particular microRNAs (miRNAs), in this process. Methodology and results: We showed the presence of miRNAs in E. granulosus by construction and bioinformatic analysis of a small RNAs library and Northern blot validation. According to homology and RT-qPCR analyses, these miRNAs are also present in E. multilocularis. Furthermore, we found miRNAs stage specific expression, suggesting they play a role in development. We also analyzed the possible miRNAs´ target genes by miRNA binding sites prediction and observed that they would be involved in the regulation of development, homeostasis and host-parasite interaction. We also identified the miRNA biogenesis machinery components in Echinococcus spp. genomes by in silico analyses and found Ago proteins specific for parasitic flatworms. Conclusions: Gene expression regulation by miRNAs opens a new field to study the molecular bases of development of parasite cestodes, which is of main importance in biomedicine. Now, we are designing high throughput strategies to analyse the complete repertoire of small RNAs and also silencing protocols to analyse their role in development.