Browsing by Author "Cabral, Fernanda Janku"

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    Análise proteômica dos alvos ligantes de niclosamida em extrato solúvel de Limnoperna fortunei Dunker, 1857.
    (2023) Nilsen, Luis Henrique Flores; Borges, William de Castro; Andrade, Milton Hércules Guerra de; Borges, William de Castro; Sanson, Ananda Lima; Cabral, Fernanda Janku
    A espécie Limnoperna fortunei (Dunker, 1857), é um molusco bivalve, conhecido popularmente como mexilhão dourado o qual representa atualmente um sério problema ambiental e econômico. Este trabalho teve como objetivo a caracterização do proteoma solúvel de L. fortunei por meio de cromatografia de afinidade com imobilizante niclosamida para a prospecção de possíveis alvos ligantes desse moluscicida. Para este fim, a niclosamida foi reconstruída no adsorvente em resina de Sepharose 4B. O extrato total do mexilhão dourado, L. fortunei, foi aplicado à coluna de afinidade e após lavagens sucessivas da coluna, as proteínas ligantes foram eluídas com niclosamida/DMSO. Em seguida, procedeu-se com a identificação em larga escala das proteínas eluídas por meio de cromatografia líquida acoplada à espectrometria de massas (LC-MS/MS). A interrogação dos dados espectrais, contra o proteoma predito de L. fortunei, permitiu a identificação de 221 grupos de proteínas. A anotação das proteínas identificadas foi realizada por meio de busca de similaridade, utilizando o algoritmo BLASTp. Dentre as proteínas identificadas destacam-se aquelas pertencentes ao citoesqueleto, como actina beta 1, tubulinas (isoformas alfa e beta), além de proteínas relacionadas ao estresse e imunidade tais como proteínas de choque térmico, sendo elas: HSP90, HSP70 e HSP20 e calreticulin. Os resultados obtidos permitiram agregar conhecimento molecular ao mecanismo de ação da niclosamida bem como apontar novas possibilidades para intervenção no controle da proliferação deste molusco invasor.
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    Avaliação de RNAs não codificadores longos específicos de Schistosoma mansoni, como candidatos a biomarcadores da esquistossomose murina.
    (2021) Rocha, Flávia Arêdes; Cota, Renata Guerra de Sá; Cota, Renata Guerra de Sá; Cabral, Fernanda Janku; Silva, Glenda Nicioli da
    RNAs não codificantes longos (lncRNAs) possuem um importante papel na regulação transcricional e pós-transcricional. São classificados como transcritos maiores que 200 nucleotídeos, que não apresentam potencial de codificar proteínas, sendo observados tanto no núcleo como no citoplasma. Estudos recentes vêm demonstrado que, dependendo de sua localização e de suas interações específicas com DNA, RNA e proteínas, os lncRNAs podem modular a função da cromatina, alterar a estabilidade e a tradução de mRNAs citoplasmáticos e interferir nas vias de sinalização. Muitas dessas funções, em última análise, afetam a expressão gênica em diversos contextos biológicos e muito provavelmente estão relacionados aos mecanismos referentes à interação parasito-hospedeiro. Por outro lado, os padrões de expressão estágio-específico sugerem que os lncRNAs são biomarcadores em potencial para a detecção da esquistosomose, uma parasitose debilitante e de grande impacto socioeconômico no mundo, causada por platelmintos do gênero Schistosoma. Acredita-se que a complexidade dos programas de diferenciação e desenvolvimento observado entre os diferentes estágios evolutivos e ambientes onde o parasita vive seja dependente da regulação da expressão gênica, e neste cenário os lncRNAs seriam moléculas chave. As hipóteses desse trabalho são que o S. mansoni expressa um conjunto de lncRNAs de forma diferencial através da reprogramação de sua expressão gênica em determinados estágios evolutivos, e que esses lncRNAs são importantes na interação parasito-hospedeiro. Recentemente, nosso grupo de pesquisa identificou um conjunto de 170 novos lncRNAs em S. mansoni e deste conjunto, quinze mostraram expressão diferencial quando comparado os estágios larvais e adultos do verme, bem como entre machos e fêmeas. Continuando essa linha de investigação, o objetivo desse trabalho foi avaliar a expressão de 47 lncRNAs nos estágios de cercárias, esquistossômulos com 3,5h de cultivo in vitro, vermes adultos e ovos, bem como em amostras de fígado e sangue de camundongos BALB/c infectados e não infectados com S. mansoni. Do conjunto de 47 lncRNAs avaliados, 29 foram considerados como expressos em vermes adultos, utilizando a técnica de qRT-PCR. A seguir, este conjunto se mostrou diferencialmente expresso entre os estágios evolutivos avaliados. Posteriormente foram realizados testes qualitativos e quantitivos utilizando fígado e sangue de camundongos infectados e não infectados, apresentando detecção de lncRNAs específicos de S. mansoni no hospedeiro mamífero. Em conjunto, podemos concluir que os lncRNAs são diferencialmente expressões em S. mansoni e com potencial de biomarcador.
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    Characterization and mRNA expression analysis of PI31, an endogenous proteasome inhibitor from Schistosoma mansoni.
    (2010) Machado, Carla Botelho; Cabral, Fernanda Janku; Soares, Cláudia Sossai; Moreira, Érika Bueno de Carvalho; Morais, Enyara Rezende; Magalhães, Lizandra Guidi; Gomes, Matheus de Souza; Cota, Renata Guerra de Sá; Rosa, José César; Ruller, R.; Ward, R. J.; Rodrigues, Vanderlei
    The proline-rich inhibitor of 31 kDa (PI31) is highly conserved through metazoan evolution, and its activity in the proteasome inhibition is well-established although the precise mechanism of inhibition is unclear. The coding DNA sequence of Schistosoma mansoni PI31 (SmPI31) was cloned, and the recombinant protein was expressed in bacterial system. The correct amino acid sequence was confirmed by mass spectrometry and circular dichroism suggests that SmPI31 contains both α-helix and non-structured regions. Inhibition assays, using the SucLeu-Leu-Val-Tyr-4-MCA substrate for proteasome degradation, showed that the S. mansoni proteasome may be regulated by the inhibitory activity of SmPI31. A gene expression assay using qRT-PCR at various stages during the S. mansoni life cycle has shown that SmPI31 transcripts are expressed in all studied stages, suggesting that PI31 plays an important role during the developmental processes of the parasite. In this study first evidence is presented that PI31 has a conserved structure and plays a role as proteasome inhibitor in adult worms and it is expressed through life cycle.
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    Deubiquitinating enzymes as possible drug targets for schistosomiasis.
    (2021) Patrocínio, Andressa Barban do; Cabral, Fernanda Janku; Paiva, Thales Henrique de; Magalhães, Lizandra Guidi; Paula, Lucas Antônio de Lima; Brigato, Olinda Mara; Cota, Renata Guerra de Sá; Rodrigues, Vanderlei
    Deubiquitinating enzymes (DUBs) are conserved in Schistosoma mansoni and may be linked to the 26S proteasome. Previous results from our group showed that b-AP15, an inhibitor of the 26S proteasome DUBs UCHL5 and USP14 induced structural and gene expression changes in mature S. mansoni pairs. This work suggests the use of the nonselective DUB inhibitor PR-619 to verify whether these enzymes are potential target proteins for new drug development. Our approach is based on previous studies with DUB inhibitors in mammalian cells that have shown that these enzymes are associated with apoptosis, autophagy and the transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) signaling pathway. PR-619 inhibited oviposition in parasite pairs in vitro, leading to mitochondrial changes, autophagic body formation, and changes in expression of SmSmad2 and SmUSP9x, which are genes linked to the TGF-β pathway that are responsible for parasite oviposition and SmUCHL5 and SmRpn11 DUB maintenance. Taken together, these results indicate that DUBs may be used as targets for the development of new drugs against schistosomiasis.
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    Genome-wide identification, characterisation and expression profiling of the ubiquitin-proteasome genes in Biomphalaria glabrata.
    (2019) Portilho, Laysa Gomes; Duarte, Bruna Custódio Dias; Queiroz, Fábio Ribeiro; Ribeiro, Thales Henrique Cherubino; Jeremias, Wander de Jesus; Babá, Elio Hideo; Coelho, Paulo Marcos Zech; Morais, Enyara Rezende; Cabral, Fernanda Janku; Caldeira, Roberta Lima; Gomes, Matheus de Souza
    BACKGROUND Biomphalaria glabrata is the major species used for the study of schistosomiasis-related parasite-host relationships, and understanding its gene regulation may aid in this endeavor. The ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS) performs post-translational regulation in order to maintain cellular protein homeostasis and is related to several mechanisms, including immune responses. OBJECTIVE The aims of this work were to identify and characterise the putative genes and proteins involved in UPS using bioinformatic tools and also their expression on different tissues of B. glabrata. METHODS The putative genes and proteins of UPS in B. glabrata were predicted using BLASTp and as queries reference proteins from model organism. We characterised these putative proteins using PFAM and CDD software describing the conserved domains and active sites. The phylogenetic analysis was performed using ClustalX2 and MEGA5.2. Expression evaluation was performed from 12 snail tissues using RPKM. FINDINGS 119 sequences involved in the UPS in B. glabrata were identified, which 86 have been related to the ubiquitination pathway and 33 to proteasome. In addition, the conserved domains found were associated with the ubiquitin family, UQ_con, HECT, U-box and proteasome. The main active sites were lysine and cysteine residues. Lysines are responsible and the starting point for the formation of polyubiquitin chains, while the cysteine residues of the enzymes are responsible for binding to ubiquitin. The phylogenetic analysis showed an organised distribution between the organisms and the clades of the sequences, corresponding to the tree of life of the animals, for all groups of sequences analysed. The ubiquitin sequence was the only one with a high expression profile found in all libraries, inferring its wide range of performance. MAIN CONCLUSIONS Our results show the presence, conservation and expression profile of the UPS in this mollusk, providing a basis and new knowledge for other studies involving this system. Due to the importance of the UPS and B. glabrata, this work may influence the search for new methodologies for the control of schistosomiasis.
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    Inhibition of 19S proteasome deubiquitinating activity in Schistosoma mansoni affects viability, oviposition, and structural changes.
    (2020) Patrocínio, Andressa Barban do; Cabral, Fernanda Janku; Bitencourt, André Luiz Brandão; Brigato, Olinda Mara; Magalhães, Lizandra Guidi; Paula, Lucas Antônio de Lima; Moreira, Larissa Franco; Cota, Renata Guerra de Sá; Rodrigues, Vanderlei
    The proteasome is the key player in the cellular protein degradation machinery and is pivotal for protein homeostasis and Schistosoma mansoni (S. mansoni) survival. Our group study provides insights into proteasome inhibitors and reveals that selective schistosomiasis agents represent an interesting branch of proteasome research linked to the development of new drugs for this neglected disease. Here, we explored the phenotypic response of S. mansoni to b-AP15, a bis-benzylidine piperidone that inhibits 26S proteasome deubiquitinases (DUBs), ubiquitin-specific protease 14 (USP14), and ubiquitin carboxyl-terminal hydrolase 5 (UCHL5). b-AP15 induces a modest decrease in egg production in vitro and reduces viability, leading to the death of parasite couples. This inhibitor also induces a twofold increase in the accumulation of polyubiquitinated proteins in S. mansoni adult worms and causes tegument changes such as disintegration, wrinkling, and bubble formation, both throughout the length of the parasite and in the oral sucker. b-AP15 alters the cell organelles of adult S. mansoni worms, and we specifically observed mitochondrial alterations, which are suggestive of proteotoxic stress leading to autophagy. Taken together, these results indicate that the deubiquitinase function of the proteasome is essential for the parasite and support the hypothesis that the proteasome constitutes an interesting drug target for the treatment of schistosomiasis.
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    Investigation on the 19S ATPase proteasome subunits (Rpt1 6) conservation and their differential gene expression in Schistosoma mansoni.
    (2013) Pereira Junior, Olavo dos Santos; Pereira, Roberta Verciano; Silva, Camila Siqueira; Borges, William de Castro; Cota, Renata Guerra de Sá; Cabral, Fernanda Janku; Silva, Sérgio Henrique da; Soares, Cláudia Sossai; Morais, Enyara Rezende; Moreira, Érika Bueno de Carvalho; Magalhães, Lizandra Guidi; Paula, Fabiana Martins de; Rodrigues, Vanderlei
    The ubiquitin-proteasome system is responsible for degradation of the majority of intracellular proteins in eukaryotic cells. The 26S proteasome proteolytic complex is composed of a 20S core particle responsible for protein degradation and the 19S lid which plays a role in the recognition of polyubiquitinated substrates. The 19S regulatory particle (Rps) is composed of ATPase (Rpt) and non-ATPase (Rpn) subunits. In this study, we analyzed the expression profile of 19S Rpt subunits in the larvae and adult stage of the Schistosoma mansoni life cycle. Conventional reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) revealed that the majority of the 19S Rpt subunits amplified at the expected molecular masses for various investigated stages. In addition, SmRpt1, SmRpt2, and SmRpt6 transcript levels were increased in 3 h-cultured schistosomula and reasonably maintained until 5 h in culture, as revealed by qRT-PCR. Phylogenetic analysis of 19S Rpt subunits showed high structural conservation in comparison to other Rpt orthologues. The mRNA expression profile of 19S Rpt subunits did not correlate with 26S proteasome proteolytic activity as judged by a 14C-casein-degrading assay, in the early cultured schistosomula. Taken together, these results revealed a differential expression profile for 19S Rpt subunits whose transcript levels could not be directly associated to 26S proteasome activity.
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    Molecular characterization of SUMO E2 conjugation enzyme : differential expression profile in Schistosoma mansoni.
    (2011) Pereira, Roberta Verciano; Cabral, Fernanda Janku; Gomes, Matheus de Souza; Babá, Élio Hideo; Passos, Liana Konovaloff Jannotti; Carvalho, Omar; Rodrigues, Vanderlei; Afonso, Robson José de Cássia Franco; Borges, William de Castro; Cota, Renata Guerra de Sá
    SUMO-dependent post-translational modification is implicated in a variety of cellular functions including gene expression regulation, nuclear sub-localization, and signal transduction. Conjugation of SUMO to other proteins occurs in a similar process to ubiquitination, which involves three classes of enzymes: an E1 activating, an E2 conjugating, and an E3 target-specific ligase. Ubc9 is the unique SUMO E2 enzyme known to conjugate SUMO to target substrates. Here, we present the molecular characterization of this enzyme and demonstrate its expression profile during the S. mansoni life cycle. We have used bioinformatic approaches to identify the SUMO-conjugating enzyme, the SmUbc9-like protein, in the Schistosoma mansoni databases. Quantitative RT-PCR was employed to measure the transcript levels of SUMO E2 in cercariae, adult worms, and in vitro cultivated schistosomula. Furthermore, recombinant SmUbc9 was expressed using the Gateway system, and antibodies raised in rats were used to measure SmUbc9 protein levels in S. mansoni stages by Western blotting. Our data revealed upregulation of the SmUbc9 transcript in early schistosomula followed by a marked differential gene expression in the other analyzed stages. The protein levels were maintained fairly constant suggesting a post-transcriptional regulation of the SmUbc9 mRNA. Our results show for the first time that S. mansoni employs a functional SUMO E2 enzyme, for the conjugation of the SUMO proteins to its target substrates.
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    Parâmetros epigenéticos e parasitológicos associados à esquistossomose mansônica em camundongos C57BL/6 EBi3-/-.
    (2020) Mota, Ester Alves; Cota, Renata Guerra de Sá; Cota, Renata Guerra de Sá; Babá, Élio Hideo; Cabral, Fernanda Janku; Andrade, Milton Hércules Guerra de; Soares, Rodrigo Dian de Oliveira Aguiar
    A hipótese desse trabalho é que o parasito Schistosoma mansoni em resposta ao sistema imune do hospedeiro mamífero altera seu estado epigenético e modula o estado epigenético do hospedeiro definitivo, e consequentemente a extensão do granuloma hepático. Para investigar essa hipótese foi utilizada a infecção em modelo murino C57BL/6 EBi3-/- e delineados os objetivos específicos: (i) a investigação dos efeitos parasitológicos; (ii) se o parasito modularia mecanismos epigenéticos no hospedeiro; (iii) se o hospedeiro poderia afetar a expressão de genes relacionados a mecanismos epigenéticos do parasito; (iv) avaliar a expressão de miRNAs e lncRNAs de S. mansoni no modelo C57BL/6 EBi3-/- bem como o potencial desses ncRNAs como biomarcadores (v) avaliar a expressão de genes relacionados a epigenética na cepa LE do S. mansoni resistente ao praziquantel (LE-PZQ). Foram utilizados camundongos C57BL/6 WTC (selvagem controle), WTI (selvagem infectado), EBi3-/-C (nocaute controle) e EBi3-/- I ( nocaute infectado) todos com 55 dias de infecção, 100 cercárias. Nos experimentos com S. mansoni, foram utilizados pool de parasitos recuperados de camundongos WT (LE-controle), cepa LE-PZQ e recuperados de EBi3-/- (LE de EBi3-/- ). Os resultados mostram que a esquistossomose murina no modelo C57BL/6 EBi3-/- I apresenta uma diminuição no dano hepático, no volume e número dos granulomas e quantidade de ovos nas fezes em relação ao observado no grupo WTI, (p<0,05) A demetilação do DNA está mais ativa que a metilação em todos os grupos devido ao maior nível de expressão das TETs em comparação com a expressão das DNMTs, sendo que, quanto maior o número de granulomas, menor a expressão de TET3 e DNMT1 em EBi3-/- I (p<0,05) A infecção por S. mansoni induz uma diminuição no conteúdo de metilação global do DNA. Os vermes adultos machos, recuperados do modelo C57BL/6 EBi3-/- apresentaram uma diminuição no conteúdo de metilação global do DNA comparando com o macho controle, bem como diminuição na expressão de SmUSPs 7, 22, 46 e 49, o que pode afetar o turnover da via ubiquitinaproteassoma e alterar o padrão de ubiquitinação nas histonas. Já na cepa LE-PZQ o SmUSP15 foi o único gene up regulado em machos. Verificamos também que os miRNAs 190 e 125A possuem função sexo-específica em S. mansoni, o miR-190-3p foi o único encontrado no plasma de C57BL/6 EBi3-/- I. Os lncRNA5 6 e 7 foram detectados no plasma de C57BL/6 EBi3-/- . Os dados indicam uma modulação epigenética do hospedeiro mamífero no parasito e abrem perspectivas para a influência epigenética na interação parasito-hospedeiro.
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    Preliminary analysis of miRNA pathway in Schistosoma mansoni.
    (2009) Gomes, Matheus de Souza; Cabral, Fernanda Janku; Passos, Liana Konovaloff Jannotti; Carvalho, Omar; Rodrigues, Vanderlei; Babá, Élio Hideo; Cota, Renata Guerra de Sá
    RNA silencing refers to a series of nuclear and cytoplasmatic processes involved in the post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression or post-transcriptional gene silencing (PTGS), either by sequence-specific mRNA degradation or by translational arrest. The best characterized small RNAs are microRNAs (miRNAs), which predominantly perform gene silencing through post-transcriptional mechanisms. In this work we used bioinformatic approaches to identify the parasitic trematode Schistosoma mansoni sequences that are similar to enzymes involved in the post-transcriptional gene silencing mediated by miRNA pathway.We used amino acid sequences of well-known proteins involved in the miRNA pathway against S. mansoni genome and transcriptome databases identifying a total of 13 putative proteins in the parasite. In addition, the transcript levels of SmDicer1 and SmAgo2/3/4 were identified by qRT-PCR using cercariae, adult worms, eggs and in vitro cultivated schistosomula. Our results showed that the SmDicer1 and SmAgo2/3/4 are differentially expressed during schistosomula development, suggesting that the miRNA pathway is regulated at the transcript level and therefore may control gene expression during the life cycle of S. mansoni.
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    Schistosoma mansoni encodes SMT3B and SMT3C molecules responsible for post-translational modification of cellular proteins.
    (2008) Cabral, Fernanda Janku; Pereira Junior, Olavo dos Santos; Silva, Camila Siqueira; Cota, Renata Guerra de Sá; Rodrigues, Vanderlei
    The sumoylation pathway is a post-translational modification of nuclear proteins widespread among several organisms. SMT3C is the main protein involved in this process and it is covalently conjugated to a diverse assortment of nuclear protein targets. To date, 3 SUMO paralogues (SMT3C, A/B) have been characterized in mammals and plants. In this work we characterized two SUMO related genes, named SMT3B and SMT3C throughout Schistosoma mansoni life cycle. The SmSMTB/C encodes for proteins sharing significant amino acid homology with SMT3. Phylogenetical analyses revealed that both SmSMT3B/C are distinct proteins. Additionally, SmSMT3B and C are expressed in cercariae, adult worms, eggs and schistosomula however SmSMT3C gene showed an expression level 7 to 9 fold higher than SmSMT3B in eggs, schistosomula and adult worms. The comparison between the SmSMT3C genomic and cDNA sequences established that the encoding sequence is interrupted by 3 introns of 70, 37 and 36 bp. Western Blot has shown SMT3 conjugates are present in nuclear and total protein fractions of adults and cercariae. Therefore our results suggest a functional sumoylation pathway, and the presence of two paralogues also suggests the specificity of substrates for SMT3 in S. mansoni.
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    Transcriptional profile and structural conservation of SUMO-Specific proteases in schistosoma mansoni.
    (2012) Pereira, Roberta Verciano; Cabral, Fernanda Janku; Gomes, Matheus de Souza; Passos, Liana Konovaloff Jannotti; Borges, William de Castro; Cota, Renata Guerra de Sá
    Small ubiquitin-related modifier (SUMO) is involved in numerous cellular processes including protein localization, transcription, and cell cycle control. SUMOylation is a dynamic process, catalyzed by three SUMO-specific enzymes and reversed by Sentrin/SUMO-specific proteases (SENPs). Here we report the characterization of these proteases in Schistosoma mansoni. Using in silico analysis, we identified two SENPs sequences, orthologs of mammalian SENP1 and SENP7, confirming their identities and conservation through phylogenetic analysis. In addition, the transcript levels of Smsenp1/7 in cercariae, adult worms, and in vitro cultivated schistosomula were measured by qRT-PCR. Our data revealed upregulation of the Smsenp1/7 transcripts in cercariae and early schistosomula, followed by a marked differential gene expression in the other analyzed stages. However, no significant difference in expression profile between the paralogs was observed for the analyzed stages. Furthermore, in order to detect deSUMOylating capabilities in crude parasite extracts, SmSENP1 enzymatic activity was evaluated using SUMO-1- AMC substrate. The endopeptidase activity related to SUMO-1 precursor processing did not differ significantly between cercariae and adult worms. Taken together, these results support the developmentally regulated expression of SUMO-specific proteases in S. mansoni.
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    Uncovering Notch pathway in the parasitic flatworm Schistosoma mansoni.
    (2016) Magalhães, Lizandra Guidi; Morais, Enyara Rezende; Machado, Carla Botelho; Gomes, Matheus de Souza; Cabral, Fernanda Janku; Souza, Júlia Medeiros; Soares, Cláudia Sossai; Cota, Renata Guerra de Sá; Borges, William de Castro; Rodrigues, Vanderlei
    Several signaling molecules that govern development in higher animals have been identified in the parasite Schistosoma mansoni, including the transforming growth factor β, protein tyrosine kinases, nuclear hormone receptors, among others. The Notch pathway is a highly conserved signaling mechanism which is involved in a wide variety of developmental processes including embryogenesis and oogenesis in worms and flies. Here we aimed to provide the molecular reconstitution of the Notch pathway in S. mansoni using the available transcriptome and genome databases. Our results also revealed the presence of the transcripts coded for SmNotch, SmSu(H), SmHes, and the gamma-secretase complex (SmNicastrin, SmAph-1, and SmPen-2), throughout all the life stages analyzed. Besides, it was observed that the viability and separation of adult worm pairs were not affected by treatment with N-[N(3,5)-difluorophenacetyl)-L-Alanyl]- S-phenylglycine t-butyl ester (DAPT), a Notch pathway inhibitor. Moreover, DAPT treatment decreased the production of phenotypically normal eggs and arrested their development in culture. Our results also showed a significant decrease in SmHes transcript levels in both adult worms and eggs treated withDAPT. These results provide, for the first time, functional validation of the Notch pathway in S. mansoni and suggest its involvement in parasite oogenesis and embryogenesis. Given the complexity of the Notch pathway, further experiments shall highlight the full repertoire of Notch-mediated cellular processes throughout the S. mansoni life cycle.
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    Up-regulation of SUMO E3 ligases during lung schistosomula and adult worm stages.
    (2014) Pereira, Roberta Verciano; Gomes, Matheus de Souza; Cabral, Fernanda Janku; Passos, Liana Konovaloff Jannotti; Rodrigues, Vanderlei; Borges, William de Castro; Cota, Renata Guerra de Sá
    Small ubiquitin-like modifier (SUMO) conjugation of proteins occurs through a concert action of enzymes using a similar ubiquitination mechanism. After a C-terminal peptide is cleaved from the SUMO precursor by a protease to reveal a di-glycine motif, SUMO is activated by an E1 enzyme (Aos1/Uba2) and conjugated to target proteins by the sole E2 enzyme (Ubc9) guided to the appropriate substrates by the SUMO E3 ligase. Previous reports from our group showed that Schistosoma mansoni has two paralogs of SUMO: one E2 conjugation Ubc9 and two SUMO-specific proteases (SENPs). The differential gene expression profile observed for SUMO pathway genes throughout the S. mansoni life cycle attests for the distinct patterns of SUMO conjugates observed during parasite development particularly during the cercariae to schistosomula transition. To continue this investigation, we here analysed the repertoire of SUMO E3 ligases and their expression profiles during cercariae/ schistosomula transition. In silico analysis through S. mansoni databases showed two conserved SUMO E3 ligases: protein inhibitor of activated STAT (PIAS) and Ran-binding protein 2 (RanBP2). Furthermore, expression levels of the SUMO E3 ligases were measured by qRT-PCR using total RNA from cercariae, adult worms and mechanically transformed schistosomula. Our data showed an up-regulation of expression in lung schistosomula and adult worm stages. In conclusion, the differential expression of SmPIAS and SmRanBP2 during schistosomula development was similar to the expression levels of all genes related to SUMO conjugation, thereby suggesting that the control of protein activity, localisation or stability during cercariae to schistosomula transition is SUMO-dependent.