PLoS Pathogens:农科院程国锋研究组等发现日本血吸虫生殖发育新机

摘要 : 2016年2月12日，国际病原物顶级学术期刊《PLoS Pathogens》杂志上在线发表中国中国农业科学院上海兽医研究所上海兽医研究所美与国科罗拉多大学和上海大学合作完成的一篇研究论文，研究发现微小核糖核酸(miRNA)在调控日本血吸虫卵巢发育中发挥重要作用

2016年2月12日，国际病原物顶级学术期刊《PLoS Pathogens》杂志上在线发表中国中国农业科学院上海兽医研究所上海兽医研究所美与国科罗拉多大学和上海大学合作完成的一篇研究论文，研究发现微小核糖核酸(miRNA)在调控日本血吸虫卵巢发育中发挥重要作用，抑制雌虫两个高表达微小RNAs可导致血吸虫雌虫卵巢发育异常。

农科院博士后朱丽慧、硕士研究生赵江平和美国科罗拉多大学的研究助理教授王建斌(Jianbin Wang)为论文共同第一作者，上海兽医所程国锋研究员和美国科罗拉多大学Richard E. Davis教授为论文的通讯作者。

血吸虫为雌雄异体，雌雄虫合抱是雌虫性发育成熟和产卵的前提，而成熟雌虫所产生的大量虫卵是造成终末宿主病理损害和疾病再传播的关键。因此，深入揭示血吸虫性成熟和产卵的分子机制对开拓血吸虫病的防控新途径具有重要意义。

该研究针对日本血吸虫合抱和产卵的数个关键时期，系统地研究了微小rnas在雌雄虫不同发育时期的表达情况，并获得了微小RNAs的靶向调控基因，抑制血吸虫雌虫两个高表达微小RNAs可导致卵巢发育异常，揭示微小RNAs在血吸虫的生殖发育中发挥重要调控作用。


原文链接：

micrornAs Are Involved in the Regulation of Ovary Development in the Pathogenic Blood Fluke Schistosoma japonicum

原文摘要：

Schistosomes, blood flukes, are an important global public health concern. Paired adult female schistosomes produce large numbers of eggs that are primarily responsible for the disease pathology and critical for dissemination. Consequently, understanding schistosome sexual maturation and egg production may open novel perspectives for intervening with these processes to prevent clinical symptoms and to interrupt the life-cycle of these blood-flukes. microRNAs (miRNAs) are key regulators of many biological processes including development, cell proliferation, metabolism, and signal transduction. Here, we report on the identification ofSchistosoma japonicum miRNAs using small RNA deep sequencing in the key stages of male-female pairing, gametogenesis, and egg production. We identified 38 miRNAs, including 10 previously unknown miRNAs. Eighteen of the miRNAs were differentially expressed between male and female schistosomes and during different stages of sexual maturation. We identified 30 potential target genes for 16 of the S. japonicum miRNAs using antibody-based pull-down assays and bioinformatic analyses. We further validated some of these target genes using either in vitro luciferase assays or in vivo miRNA suppression experiments. Notably, suppression of the female enriched miRNAs bantam and miR-31 led to morphological alteration of ovaries in female schistosomes. These findings uncover key roles for specific miRNAs in schistosome sexual maturation and egg production.

DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1005423

作者：程国锋

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