Exploration of extracellular vesicles from Ascaris suum provides evidence of parasite–host cross talk
The prevalent porcine helminth, Ascaris suum, compromises pig health and reduces farm productivity worldwide. The closely related human parasite, A. lumbricoides, infects more than 800 million people representing a disease burden of 1.31 million disability-adjusted life years. The infections are often chronic in nature, and the parasites have a profound ability to modulate their hosts' immune responses. This study provides the first in-depth characterisation of extracellular vesicles (EVs) from different developmental stages and body parts of A. suum and proposes the role of these vesicles in the host-parasite interplay. The release of EVs from the third- (L3) and fourth-stage (L4) larvae a…
On the presence and immunoregulatory functions of extracellular microRNAs in the trematode Fasciola hepatica.
Summary Liver flukes represent a paraphyletic group of endoparasitic flatworms that significantly affect man either indirectly due to economic damage on livestock or directly as pathogens. A range of studies have focussed on how these macroscopic organisms can evade the immune-system and live inside a hostile environment such as the mammalian liver and bile-ducts. Recently, microRNAs, a class of short non-coding gene-regulators, have been proposed as likely candidates to play roles in this scenario. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are key players in development and pathogenicity and are highly conserved between metazoans: identical miRNAs can be found in flatworms and mammalians. Interestingly, miRNAs a…
The revised microRNA complement of Fasciola hepatica reveals a plethora of overlooked microRNAs and evidence for enrichment of immuno-regulatory microRNAs in extracellular vesicles
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are gene regulators that have recently been shown to down-regulate the immune response via extracellular vesicles in the mammalian host of helminthic parasites. Using the miRNA prediction pipeline miRCandRef, we expanded the current miRNA set of the liver fluke Fasciola hepatica (Platyhelminthes, Trematoda) from 16 to 54 miRNAs (42 conserved and 13 novel). Comparing the cellular expression levels with extracellular vesicles, we found all miRNAs expressed and enriched for miRNAs with immuno-regulatory function, tissue growth and cancer. Our findings support the hypothesis that miRNAs are the molecular mediators of the previously demonstrated immune modulatory function of e…