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Background
The metacestode of the tapeworm Echinococcus multilocularis is the causative agent of alveolar echinococcosis, a lethal zoonosis. Infections are initiated through establishment of parasite larvae within the intermediate host’s liver, where high concentrations of insulin are present, followed by tumour-like growth of the metacestode in host organs. The molecular mechanisms determining the organ tropism of E. multilocularis or the influences of host hormones on parasite proliferation are poorly understood.
Results
Using in vitro cultivation systems for parasite larvae we show that physiological concentrations (10 nM) of human insulin significantly stimulate the formation of metacestode larvae from parasite stem cells and promote asexual growth of the metacestode. Addition of human insulin to parasite larvae led to increased glucose uptake and enhanced phosphorylation of Echinococcus insulin signalling components, including an insulin receptor-like kinase, EmIR1, for which we demonstrate predominant expression in the parasite’s glycogen storage cells. We also characterized a second insulin receptor family member, EmIR2, and demonstrated interaction of its ligand binding domain with human insulin in the yeast two-hybrid system. Addition of an insulin receptor inhibitor resulted in metacestode killing, prevented metacestode development from parasite stem cells, and impaired the activation of insulin signalling pathways through host insulin.
Conclusions
Our data indicate that host insulin acts as a stimulant for parasite development within the host liver and that E. multilocularis senses the host hormone through an evolutionarily conserved insulin signalling pathway. Hormonal host-parasite cross-communication, facilitated by the relatively close phylogenetic relationship between E. multilocularis and its mammalian hosts, thus appears to be important in the pathology of alveolar echinococcosis. This contributes to a closer understanding of organ tropism and parasite persistence in larval cestode infections. Furthermore, our data show that Echinococcus insulin signalling pathways are promising targets for the development of novel drugs.
Background
The metacestode larva of Echinococcus multilocularis (Cestoda: Taeniidae) develops in the liver of intermediate hosts (typically rodents, or accidentally in humans) as a labyrinth of interconnected cysts that infiltrate the host tissue, causing the disease alveolar echinococcosis. Within the cysts, protoscoleces (the infective stage for the definitive canid host) arise by asexual multiplication. These consist of a scolex similar to that of the adult, invaginated within a small posterior body. Despite the importance of alveolar echinococcosis for human health, relatively little is known about the basic biology, anatomy and development of E. multilocularis larvae, particularly with regard to their nervous system.
Results
We describe the existence of a subtegumental nerve net in the metacestode cysts, which is immunoreactive for acetylated tubulin-α and contains small populations of nerve cells that are labeled by antibodies raised against several invertebrate neuropeptides. However, no evidence was found for the existence of cholinergic or serotoninergic elements in the cyst wall. Muscle fibers occur without any specific arrangement in the subtegumental layer, and accumulate during the invaginations of the cyst wall that form brood capsules, where protoscoleces develop. The nervous system of the protoscolex develops independently of that of the metacestode cyst, with an antero-posterior developmental gradient. The combination of antibodies against several nervous system markers resulted in a detailed description of the protoscolex nervous system, which is remarkably complex and already similar to that of the adult worm.
Conclusions
We provide evidence for the first time of the existence of a nervous system in the metacestode cyst wall, which is remarkable given the lack of motility of this larval stage, and the lack of serotoninergic and cholinergic elements. We propose that it could function as a neuroendocrine system, derived from the nervous system present in the bladder tissue of other taeniids. The detailed description of the development and anatomy of the protoscolex neuromuscular system is a necessary first step toward the understanding of the developmental mechanisms operating in these peculiar larval stages.
The unique stem cell system of the immortal larva of the human parasite Echinococcus multilocularis
(2014)
Background
It is believed that in tapeworms a separate population of undifferentiated cells, the germinative cells, is the only source of cell proliferation throughout the life cycle (similar to the neoblasts of free living flatworms). In Echinococcus multilocularis, the metacestode larval stage has a unique development, growing continuously like a mass of vesicles that infiltrate the tissues of the intermediate host, generating multiple protoscoleces by asexual budding. This unique proliferation potential indicates the existence of stem cells that are totipotent and have the ability for extensive self-renewal.
Results
We show that only the germinative cells proliferate in the larval vesicles and in primary cell cultures that undergo complete vesicle regeneration, by using a combination of morphological criteria and by developing molecular markers of differentiated cell types. The germinative cells are homogeneous in morphology but heterogeneous at the molecular level, since only sub-populations express homologs of the post-transcriptional regulators nanos and argonaute. Important differences are observed between the expression patterns of selected neoblast marker genes of other flatworms and the E. multilocularis germinative cells, including widespread expression in E. multilocularis of some genes that are neoblast-specific in planarians. Hydroxyurea treatment results in the depletion of germinative cells in larval vesicles, and after recovery following hydroxyurea treatment, surviving proliferating cells grow as patches that suggest extensive self-renewal potential for individual germinative cells.
Conclusions
In E. multilocularis metacestodes, the germinative cells are the only proliferating cells, presumably driving the continuous growth of the larval vesicles. However, the existence of sub-populations of the germinative cells is strongly supported by our data. Although the germinative cells are very similar to the neoblasts of other flatworms in function and in undifferentiated morphology, their unique gene expression pattern and the evolutionary loss of conserved stem cells regulators suggest that important differences in their physiology exist, which could be related to the unique biology of E. multilocularis larvae.
Alveolar (AE) and cystic (CE) echinococcosis are two parasitic diseases caused by the tapeworms Echinococcus multilocularis and E. granulosus sensu lato (s. l.), respectively. Currently, AE and CE are mainly diagnosed by means of imaging techniques, serology, and clinical and epidemiological data. However, no viability markers that indicate parasite state during infection are available. Extracellular small RNAs (sRNAs) are short non-coding RNAs that can be secreted by cells through association with extracellular vesicles, proteins, or lipoproteins. Circulating sRNAs can show altered expression in pathological states; hence, they are intensively studied as biomarkers for several diseases. Here, we profiled the sRNA transcriptomes of AE and CE patients to identify novel biomarkers to aid in medical decisions when current diagnostic procedures are inconclusive. For this, endogenous and parasitic sRNAs were analyzed by sRNA sequencing in serum from disease negative, positive, and treated patients and patients harboring a non-parasitic lesion. Consequently, 20 differentially expressed sRNAs associated with AE, CE, and/or non-parasitic lesion were identified. Our results represent an in-depth characterization of the effect E. multilocularis and E. granulosus s. l. exert on the extracellular sRNA landscape in human infections and provide a set of novel candidate biomarkers for both AE and CE detection.
Alveolar echinococcosis (AE), a severe and life-threatening disease is caused by the small fox tapeworm Echinococcus multilocularis. Currently, the options of chemotherapeutic treatment are very limited and are based on benzimidazole compounds, which act merely parasitostatic in vivo and often display strong side effects. Therefore, new therapeutic drugs and targets are urgently needed. In the present work the role of two evolutionarily conserved signalling pathways in E. multilocularis, namely the insulin signalling cascade and Abl kinases, has been studied in regard to host-parasite interaction and the possible use in anti-AE chemotherapy.
Die alveoläre Echinokokkose (AE) ist eine lebensbedrohliche Erkrankung des Menschen, welche durch das infiltrative Wachstum des Metazestoden-Larvenstadiums des Fuchsbandwurms (Echinococcus multilocularis) in der Leber verursacht wird. Das tumorartige Wachstum des Metazestoden beruht auf einer Echinococcus-spezifischen Modifikation der anterior-posterioren-Körperachse (AP Achse). Es wird vermutet, dass dabei der anteriore Pol der invadierenden Oncospären-Larve zunächst abgeschaltet wird und sich der Metazestode anschließend asexuell als vesikuläres, posteriorisiertes Gewebes im Wirt vermehrt. Nach massiver Proliferation wird der anteriore Pol reetabliert und führt zur Bildung zahlreicher Bandwurm-Kopfanlagen (Protoskolizes). Da die Ausbildung der AP Körperachse evolutionsgeschichtlich konserviert über den wingless-related (Wnt)-Signalweg gesteuert wird, wurde in dieser Arbeit die Rolle von Wnt-Signaling bei der Musterbildung von E. multilocularis über molekular- und zellbiologische Studien näher beleuchtet.
Zentraler methodischer Ansatz der vorliegenden Arbeit war ein E. multilocularis Stammzell-Kultursystem, das Primärzellsystem, welches die in vitro-Generierung von Metazestoden-Vesikeln durch Proliferation und Differenzierung von germinativen Zellen (Stammzellen) erlaubt. Über RNA-Sequenzierung wurde zunächst gezeigt, dass in Primärzellkulturen sowohl Markergene für posteriore Entwicklung in Richtung Metazestode wie auch für Anterior-und Protoskolexmarker exprimiert werden. Unter Verwendung von RNA-Interferenz (RNAi) wurde anschließend ein erfolgreicher Knockdown des vermuteten Hauptregulators des kanonischen Wnt-Signalwegs, β Catenin (em-bcat1), erreicht und führte zu einem charakteristischen, sogenannten ‚red dot‘ Phänotyp, dem ersten jemals beschriebenen RNAi Phänotyp für E. multilocularis-Primärzellen. Primärzellkulturen nach em-bcat1 RNAi zeigten eine stark verminderte Fähigkeit, Metazestoden-Vesikel zu bilden sowie eine Überproliferation von germinativen Zellen. Zusätzliche RNA-Seq-Analysen des Transkriptoms von RNAi(em-bcat1)-Kulturen zeigten eine signifikant verringerte Expression von Posterior- und Metazestodenmarkern, während Anterior- und Protoskolexmarker deutlich überexprimiert wurden. Durch umfangreiche Whole-mount-in-situ-Hybridisierung (WMISH)-Experimente wurden diese Daten für eine Reihe ausgewählter Markergene für posteriore (Metazestode; em-wnt1, em-wnt11b, em-muc1) und für anteriore Entwicklung (Protoskolex; em sfrp, em-nou-darake, em npp36, em-frizzled10) verifiziert. In allen genannten Fällen zeigte sich durch Änderung der Polarität eine verminderte Genexpression von Posteriormarkern, während Anteriormarker deutlich erhöht exprimiert wurden. Ähnlich wie bei den verwandten, freilebenden Planarien, führt demnach ein Knockdown des zentralen Wnt-Regulators β-Catenin bei E. multilocularis zu einer anteriorisierten, Anterior- und Protoskolexmarker dominierte Genexpression, welche der posteriorisierten Entwicklung zum Metazestoden entgegenwirkt.
Neben Markergenen für die Ausbildung der AP-Achse wurden in dieser Arbeit auch solche für die medio-laterale (ML)-Körperachse bei Zestoden erstmals beschrieben. So zeigte sich, dass ein Slit-Ortholog (em slit) im E. multilocularis Protoskolex im Bereich der Körper-Mittellinie exprimiert wird und lieferte Hinweise darauf, dass, ähnlich zur Situation bei Planarien, die ML Achse von E. multilocularis durch Morphogengradienten aus slit (Mittellinie) und wnt5 (lateral) definiert wird. Im Metazestoden wird hingegen nur em-slit exprimiert. Der Metazestode besitzt damit als posterior-medianisiertes Gewebe Anlagen zur Polarität zur AP- und ML-Achse, welche erst mit Bildung von Protoskolizes vollständig etabliert werden. Schließlich deuten die Ergebnisse dieser Arbeit darauf hin, dass bei der Wiederherstellung der Körperachsen während der Entwicklung von Protoskolizes Hedgehog (Hh)-Signale entscheidend mitwirken.
Zusammenfassend wurde in dieser Arbeit der zentrale Faktor des kanonischen Wnt Signalwegs, β-Catenin, als Hauptregulator der Entwicklung des tumorartig wachsenden E. multilocularis-Metazestoden identifiziert. Zudem wurde gezeigt, dass zur Metazestodenbildung neben einer Echinococcus-spezifischen Modifikation der AP Körperachse auch eine solche der ML Achse beiträgt. In humanen malignen Tumoren sind der Wnt-, Slit-Robo- und Hh-Signalweg gut erforschte Wirkstofftargets und könnten in Zukunft in ähnlicher Weise für eine zielgerichtete Therapie von AE dienen.
Alveolar and cystic echinococcosis, caused by Echinococcus multilocularis and Echinococcus
granulosus respectively, are severe zoonotic diseases with limited treatment
options. The sole curative treatment is the surgical removal of the complete parasite
material. Due to late diagnosis, chemotherapeutic treatment often is the only treatment
option. Treatment is based on benzimidazoles, which merely act parasitostatic
and often display strong side effects. Therefore, new therapeutic drugs are urgently
needed.
Evolutionarily conserved signalling pathways are known to be involved in hostparasite
cross-communication, parasite development and survival. Moreover, they
represent potential targets for chemotherapeutic drugs. In this context the roles of
the serotonin- and cAMP-signalling pathways in Echinococcus were studied.
Genes encoding serotonin receptors, a serotonin transporter and enzymes involved in
serotonin biosynthesis could be identified in the E. multilocularis and E. granulosus
genomes indicating that these parasites are capable of synthesizing and perceiving
serotonin signals. Also the influence of exogenous serotonin on parasite development
was studied. Serotonin significantly increased metacestode vesicle formation
from primary cells and re-differentiation of protoscoleces. Inhibition of serotonin
transport with citalopram significantly reduced metacestode vesicle formation from
primary cells and caused death of protoscoleces and metacestodes. Furthermore, it
could be shown that serotonin increased phosphorylation of protein kinase A substrates.
Taken together, these results show that serotonin and serotonin transport
are essential for Echinococcus development and survival. Consequently, components
of the serotonin pathway represent potential drug targets.
In this work the cAMP-signalling pathway was researched with focus on G-protein
coupled receptors and adenylate cyclases. 76 G-protein coupled receptors, including
members of all major families were identified in the E. multilocularis genome.
Four genes homologous to adenylate cyclase IX were identified in the E. multilocularis
genome and three in the E. granulosus genome. While glucagon caused
no significant effects, the adenylate cyclase activator forskolin and the adenylate
cyclase inhibitor 2’, 5’ didesoxyadenosine influenced metacestode vesicle formation
from primary cells, re-differentiation of protoscoleces and survival of metacestodes.
It was further shown that forskolin increases phosphorylation of protein kinase A
substrates, indicating that forskolin activates the cAMP-pathway also in cestodes.
These results indicate that the cAMP signalling pathway plays an important role in
Echinococcus development and survival.
To complement this work, the influence of different media and additives on E. granulosus protoscoleces was investigated. Anaerobic conditions and the presence of FBS
prolonged protoscolex survival while different media influenced protoscolex activation
and development.
Taken together, this work provided important insights into developmental processes
in Echinococcus and potential drug targets for echinococcosis chemotherapy.
Background
Tapeworms lack a canonical piRNA-pathway, raising the question of how they can silence existing mobile genetic elements (MGE). Investigation towards the underlying mechanisms requires information on tapeworm transposons which is, however, presently scarce.
Methods
The presence of densovirus-related sequences in tapeworm genomes was studied by bioinformatic approaches. Available RNA-Seq datasets were mapped against the Echinococcus multilocularis genome to calculate expression levels of densovirus-related genes. Transcription of densovirus loci was further analyzed by sequencing and RT-qPCR.
Results
We herein provide evidence for the presence of densovirus-related elements in a variety of tapeworm genomes. In the high-quality genome of E. multilocularis we identified more than 20 individual densovirus integration loci which contain the information for non-structural and structural virus proteins. The majority of densovirus loci are present as head-to-tail concatemers in isolated repeat containing regions of the genome. In some cases, unique densovirus loci have integrated close to histone gene clusters. We show that some of the densovirus loci of E. multilocularis are actively transcribed, whereas the majority are transcriptionally silent. RT-qPCR data further indicate that densovirus expression mainly occurs in the E. multilocularis stem cell population, which probably forms the germline of this organism. Sequences similar to the non-structural densovirus genes present in E. multilocularis were also identified in the genomes of E. canadensis, E. granulosus, Hydatigera taeniaeformis, Hymenolepis diminuta, Hymenolepis microstoma, Hymenolepis nana, Taenia asiatica, Taenia multiceps, Taenia saginata and Taenia solium.
Conclusions
Our data indicate that densovirus integration has occurred in many tapeworm species. This is the first report on widespread integration of DNA viruses into cestode genomes. Since only few densovirus integration sites were transcriptionally active in E. multilocularis, our data are relevant for future studies into gene silencing mechanisms in tapeworms. Furthermore, they indicate that densovirus-based vectors might be suitable tools for genetic manipulation of cestodes.
SL-Trans-Spleißen ist ein Mechanismus zur Transkriptprozessierung, welcher bisher bei kinetoplastiden Protozoen, Trematoden und Nematoden beschrieben wurde. Im Rahmen der vorliegenden Arbeit wurde erstmals das Gen für einen Spliced Leader (SL) aus den Cestoden E. multilocularis und E. granulosus charakterisiert. Ausgangspunkt waren Studien zur Genregulation des E. multilocularis Gens elp, welches für einen Faktor der ERM-Familie kodiert. Es konnte gezeigt werden, daß elp über mindestens zwei unterschiedliche Transkripte kodiert wird. Für eines dieser Transkripte konnte gezeigt werden, daß ein 32 Nukleotide langes, nicht-proteinkodierendes Exon über konservatives Spleißen mit dem startmethionin-kodierenden Exon II der elp-mRNA fusioniert wird. Der entsprechende Transkriptionsstartpunkt und zugehörige Promotorstrukturen konnten auf dem E. multilocularis Chromosom identifiziert werden. Ein zweites Transkript enthielt anstelle des 32 nt Exon I von elp ein alternatives 36 nt langes Exon am 5‘-Ende, welches nicht Teil des genomischen elp Lokus ist. Im Rahmen der vorliegenden Arbeit wurde gezeigt, daß dieses 36 nt lange Exon einen Spliced Leader (SL) von E. multilocularis darstellt. Eine Analyse von E. multilocularis cDNA-Bibliotheken ergab, daß sich das 36 nt Exon nicht nur am 5‘-Ende der elp-mRNA befindet, sondern in identischer Form auch am 5‘-Ende von mindestens elf anderen mRNAs von E. multilocularis. Das zugehörige SL-RNA-Gen konnte isoliert und vollständig charakterisiert werden. Es befand sich auf einem 1513 bp langen Fragment, welches auf dem E. multilocularis Genom als mehrfacher Repeat angeordnet ist. Auf DNA-Sequenzebene konnte gezeigt werden, daß dieses Gen signifikante Homologien zu bereits bekannten SL-RNA-Sequenzen von Trematoden und Turbellaria nicht jedoch zu solchen von Nematoden und kinetoplastiden Protozoen aufweist. Die Sekundärstruktur der kodierten SL-RNA besitzt zudem strukturelle Charakteristika, die für SL-RNAs anderer Organismen bereits bekannt sind. Zusammengenommen lassen diese Daten den Schluß zu, daß es sich bei dem 36 nt langen Exon in der Tat um einen SL von E. multilocularis handelt. Die für E. multilocularis identifizierten trans-gespleißten mRNAs kodieren für Faktoren, welche an einer Reihe unterschiedlicher Prozesse in der Zelle beteiligt sind. Signifikante Unterschiede in den Spektren der trans-gespleißten Faktoren bei Echinococcus und anderen Plathelminthen können als Hinweis gewertet werden, daß keine generelle Korrelation besteht zwischen Trans-Spleißen einer bestimmten mRNA und der biologischen Funktion des Faktors. Ein zum SL-Gen von E. multilocularis hoch homologes Gen konnte zudem auf chromosomaler DNA des Hundebandwurms E. granulosus identifiziert werden. Trans-Spleißen wird demnach nicht nur vom Fuchsbandwurm, sondern auch vom Hundebandwurm zur Genexpression genutzt. Im Falle von elp besteht die ungewöhnliche Situation, daß ein identisches Protein zwei verschiedene Transkripte kodiert von denen eines konventionell und das andere trans-gespleißt wird. Der Regulationsmechanismus dieses alternativen Cis/Trans-Spleißens wurde in dieser Arbeit untersucht. Hierbei konnte gezeigt werden, daß den zwei elp Transkripten auch zwei unterschiedliche Primärtranskripte zugrunde liegen. Die dabei erlangten Daten stehen in Einklang mit dem gegenwärtigen Modell, daß alternatives Cis/Trans-Spleißen an einer Splice Akzeptorstelle ausschließlich vom Vorhandensein einer stromaufwärts gelegenen Splice Donorstelle abhängt. Weitere Studien haben gezeigt, daß die Expression der trans-oder cis-gespleißten elp-mRNA weder stadien- noch isolat-oder zytospezifische ist. Zusammenfassend konnten in dieser Arbeit erstmals umfassende Daten zum Mechanismus des Trans-Spleißens bei einem Cestoden erlangt werden, was sich für weitere molekularbiologische Untersuchungen an diesem Organismus hervorragend ausnutzen läßt. In einer abschließenden Studie wurde versucht einen weiteren ERM-homologen Faktor, der eventuell auch über alternatives Cis/Trans-Spleißen exprimiert wird, über PCR mit degenerativen Primern zu identifizieren. Es konnte jedoch neben elp kein anderer homologer Faktor bestimmt werden. Dieses Ergebnis entspricht den bereits bei anderen niederen Eukaryonten durchgeführten Untersuchungen.
The insulin receptor ortholog EmIR of the fox-tapeworm Echinococcus multilocularis displays significant structural homology to the human insulin receptor (HIR) and has been suggested to be involved in insulin sensing mechanisms of the parasite’s metacestode larval stage. In the present work, the effects of host insulin on Echinococcus metacestode vesicles and the proposed interaction between EmIR and mammalian insulin have been studied using biochemical and cell-biological approaches. Human insulin, exogenously added to in vitro cultivated parasite larvae, (i) significantly stimulated parasite survival and growth, (ii) induced DNA de novo synthesis in Echinococcus, (iii) affected overall protein phosphorylation in the parasite, and (iv) specifically induced the phosphorylation of the parasite’s Erk-like MAP kinase orthologue EmMPK1. These results clearly indicated that Echinococcus metacestode vesicles are able to sense exogenous host insulin which induces a mitogenic response. To investigate whether EmIR mediates these effects, anti-EmIR antibodies were produced and utilized in biochemical assays and immunohistochemical analyses. EmIR was shown to be expressed in the germinal layer of the parasite both on the surface of glycogen storing cells and undifferentiated germinal cells. Upon addition of exogenous insulin to metacestode vesicles, the phosphorylation of EmIR was significantly induced, an effect which was suppressed in the presence of specific inhibitors of insulin receptor-like tyrosine kinases. Furthermore, upon expression of EmIR/HIR receptor chimera containing the extracellular ligand binding domain of EmIR in HEK 293 cells, a specific autophosphorylation of the chimera could be induced through the addition of exogenous insulin. These results indicated the capability of EmIR to sense and to transmit host insulin signals to the Echinococcus signaling machinery. The importance of insulin signaling mechanisms for parasite survival and growth were underscored by in vitro cultivation experiments in which the addition of an inhibitor of insulin receptor tyrosine kinases led to vesicle degradation and death. Based on the above outlined molecular data on the interaction between EmIR and mammalian insulin, the parasite’s insulin receptor orthologue most probably mediates the insulin effects on parasite growth and is, therefore, a potential candidate factor for host-parasite communication via evolutionary conserved pathways. In a final set of experiments, signaling mechanisms that act downstream of EmIR have been analyzed. These studies revealed significant differences between insulin signaling in Echinococcus and the related cestode parasite Taenia solium. These differences could be associated with differences in the organo-tropism of both species.