Journal article
Identification of Putative Neuropeptides That Alter the Behaviour of Schistosoma mansoni Cercariae
Biology, Vol.11(9), pp.1-21
2022
PMCID: PMC9495596
PMID: 36138823
Abstract
Elucidating the infectivity of Schistosoma mansoni, one of the main etiological agents of human schistosomiasis, requires an improved understanding of the behavioural mechanisms of cercariae, the non-feeding mammalian infective stage. This study investigated the presence and effect of cercariae-derived putative neuropeptides on cercarial behaviour when applied externally. Cercariae were peptidomically analysed and 11 neuropeptide precursor proteins, all of which were specific to the Schistosoma genus and most of which highly expressed in the cercarial stage, were identified in cercariae for the first time. Protein–protein interaction analysis predicted the interaction of various neuropeptide precursors (e.g., Sm-npp-30, Sm-npp-33, Sm-npp-35) with cercarial structural proteins (e.g., myosin heavy chain and titin). In total, nine putative neuropeptides, selected based on their high hydrophobicity and small size (~1 kilodalton), were tested on cercariae (3 mg/mL) in acute exposure (1 min) and prolonged exposure (360 min) behavioural bioassays. The peptides AAYMDLPW-NH2, NRKIDQSFYSYY-NH2, FLLALPSP-OH, and NYLWDTRL-NH2 stimulated acute increases in cercarial spinning, stopping, and directional change during active states. However, only NRKIDQSFYSYY-NH2 caused the same behavioural changes at a lower concentration (0.1 mg/mL). After prolonged exposure, AAYMDLPW-NH2 and NYLWDTRL-NH2 caused increasing passive behaviour and NRKIDQSFYSYY-NH2 caused increasing body-first and head-pulling movements. These findings characterise behaviour-altering novel putative neuropeptides, which may inform future biocontrol innovations to prevent human schistosomiasis.
Details
- Title
- Identification of Putative Neuropeptides That Alter the Behaviour of Schistosoma mansoni Cercariae
- Authors
- Conor Fogarty (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Centre for BioinnovationSaowaros Suwansa-ard (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Centre for BioinnovationPhong Phan (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Centre for BioinnovationDonald P McManus (Author) - QIMR Berghofer Medical Research InstituteMary G Duke (Author) - QIMR Berghofer Medical Research InstituteRussell C Wyeth (Author) - St. Francis Xavier UniversityScott Cummins (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Centre for BioinnovationTianfang Wang (Corresponding Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Centre for Bioinnovation
- Publication details
- Biology, Vol.11(9), pp.1-21
- Publisher
- MDPI AG
- Date published
- 2022
- DOI
- 10.3390/biology11091344
- ISSN
- 2079-7737
- PMID
- 36138823; PMC9495596
- Copyright note
- © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
- Organisation Unit
- University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; GeneCology Research Centre - Legacy; School of Science, Technology and Engineering; Centre for Bioinnovation
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 99676396602621
- Output Type
- Journal article
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