MiR-277/4989 regulate transcriptional landscape during juvenile to adult transition in the parasitic helminth Schistosoma mansoni.

Schistosomes are parasitic helminths that cause schistosomiasis, a disease affecting circa 200 million people, primarily in underprivileged regions of the world. Schistosoma mansoni is the most experimentally tractable schistosome species due to its ease of propagation in the laboratory and the high...

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Main Authors: Anna V Protasio, Stijn van Dongen, Julie Collins, Leonor Quintais, Diogo M Ribeiro, Florian Sessler, Martin Hunt, Gabriel Rinaldi, James J Collins, Anton J Enright, Matthew Berriman
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2017-05-01
Series:PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases
Online Access:https://journals.plos.org/plosntds/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pntd.0005559&type=printable
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author Anna V Protasio
Stijn van Dongen
Julie Collins
Leonor Quintais
Diogo M Ribeiro
Florian Sessler
Martin Hunt
Gabriel Rinaldi
James J Collins
Anton J Enright
Matthew Berriman
author_facet Anna V Protasio
Stijn van Dongen
Julie Collins
Leonor Quintais
Diogo M Ribeiro
Florian Sessler
Martin Hunt
Gabriel Rinaldi
James J Collins
Anton J Enright
Matthew Berriman
author_sort Anna V Protasio
collection DOAJ
description Schistosomes are parasitic helminths that cause schistosomiasis, a disease affecting circa 200 million people, primarily in underprivileged regions of the world. Schistosoma mansoni is the most experimentally tractable schistosome species due to its ease of propagation in the laboratory and the high quality of its genome assembly and annotation. Although there is growing interest in microRNAs (miRNAs) in trematodes, little is known about the role these molecules play in the context of developmental processes. We use the completely unaware "miRNA-blind" bioinformatics tool Sylamer to analyse the 3'-UTRs of transcripts differentially expressed between the juvenile and adult stages. We show that the miR-277/4989 family target sequence is the only one significantly enriched in the transition from juvenile to adult worms. Further, we describe a novel miRNA, sma-miR-4989 showing that its proximal genomic location to sma-miR-277 suggests that they form a miRNA cluster, and we propose hairpin folds for both miRNAs compatible with the miRNA pathway. In addition, we found that expression of sma-miR-277/4989 miRNAs are up-regulated in adults while their predicted targets are characterised by significant down-regulation in paired adult worms but remain largely undisturbed in immature "virgin" females. Finally, we show that sma-miR-4989 is expressed in tegumental cells located proximal to the oesophagus gland and also distributed throughout the male worms' body. Our results indicate that sma-miR-277/4989 might play a dominant role in post-transcriptional regulation during development of juvenile worms and suggest an important role in the sexual development of female schistosomes.
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1935-2735
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spelling doaj-art-ce4a46a4e17845d2ae8631c284919f642025-08-20T02:46:00ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases1935-27271935-27352017-05-01115e000555910.1371/journal.pntd.0005559MiR-277/4989 regulate transcriptional landscape during juvenile to adult transition in the parasitic helminth Schistosoma mansoni.Anna V ProtasioStijn van DongenJulie CollinsLeonor QuintaisDiogo M RibeiroFlorian SesslerMartin HuntGabriel RinaldiJames J CollinsAnton J EnrightMatthew BerrimanSchistosomes are parasitic helminths that cause schistosomiasis, a disease affecting circa 200 million people, primarily in underprivileged regions of the world. Schistosoma mansoni is the most experimentally tractable schistosome species due to its ease of propagation in the laboratory and the high quality of its genome assembly and annotation. Although there is growing interest in microRNAs (miRNAs) in trematodes, little is known about the role these molecules play in the context of developmental processes. We use the completely unaware "miRNA-blind" bioinformatics tool Sylamer to analyse the 3'-UTRs of transcripts differentially expressed between the juvenile and adult stages. We show that the miR-277/4989 family target sequence is the only one significantly enriched in the transition from juvenile to adult worms. Further, we describe a novel miRNA, sma-miR-4989 showing that its proximal genomic location to sma-miR-277 suggests that they form a miRNA cluster, and we propose hairpin folds for both miRNAs compatible with the miRNA pathway. In addition, we found that expression of sma-miR-277/4989 miRNAs are up-regulated in adults while their predicted targets are characterised by significant down-regulation in paired adult worms but remain largely undisturbed in immature "virgin" females. Finally, we show that sma-miR-4989 is expressed in tegumental cells located proximal to the oesophagus gland and also distributed throughout the male worms' body. Our results indicate that sma-miR-277/4989 might play a dominant role in post-transcriptional regulation during development of juvenile worms and suggest an important role in the sexual development of female schistosomes.https://journals.plos.org/plosntds/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pntd.0005559&type=printable
spellingShingle Anna V Protasio
Stijn van Dongen
Julie Collins
Leonor Quintais
Diogo M Ribeiro
Florian Sessler
Martin Hunt
Gabriel Rinaldi
James J Collins
Anton J Enright
Matthew Berriman
MiR-277/4989 regulate transcriptional landscape during juvenile to adult transition in the parasitic helminth Schistosoma mansoni.
PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases
title MiR-277/4989 regulate transcriptional landscape during juvenile to adult transition in the parasitic helminth Schistosoma mansoni.
title_full MiR-277/4989 regulate transcriptional landscape during juvenile to adult transition in the parasitic helminth Schistosoma mansoni.
title_fullStr MiR-277/4989 regulate transcriptional landscape during juvenile to adult transition in the parasitic helminth Schistosoma mansoni.
title_full_unstemmed MiR-277/4989 regulate transcriptional landscape during juvenile to adult transition in the parasitic helminth Schistosoma mansoni.
title_short MiR-277/4989 regulate transcriptional landscape during juvenile to adult transition in the parasitic helminth Schistosoma mansoni.
title_sort mir 277 4989 regulate transcriptional landscape during juvenile to adult transition in the parasitic helminth schistosoma mansoni
url https://journals.plos.org/plosntds/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pntd.0005559&type=printable
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