1
|
Langleib M, Calvelo J, Costábile A, Castillo E, Tort JF, Hoffmann FG, Protasio AV, Koziol U, Iriarte A. Evolutionary analysis of species-specific duplications in flatworm genomes. Mol Phylogenet Evol 2024; 199:108141. [PMID: 38964593 DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2024.108141] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/09/2023] [Revised: 06/15/2024] [Accepted: 07/01/2024] [Indexed: 07/06/2024]
Abstract
Platyhelminthes, also known as flatworms, is a phylum of bilaterian invertebrates infamous for their parasitic representatives. The classes Cestoda, Monogenea, and Trematoda comprise parasitic helminths inhabiting multiple hosts, including fishes, humans, and livestock, and are responsible for considerable economic damage and burden on human health. As in other animals, the genomes of flatworms have a wide variety of paralogs, genes related via duplication, whose origins could be mapped throughout the evolution of the phylum. Through in-silico analysis, we studied inparalogs, i.e., species-specific duplications, focusing on their biological functions, expression changes, and evolutionary rate. These genes are thought to be key players in the adaptation process of species to each particular niche. Our results showed that genes related with specific functional terms, such as response to stress, transferase activity, oxidoreductase activity, and peptidases, are overrepresented among inparalogs. This trend is conserved among species from different classes, including free-living species. Available expression data from Schistosoma mansoni, a parasite from the trematode class, demonstrated high conservation of expression patterns between inparalogs, but with notable exceptions, which also display evidence of rapid evolution. We discuss how natural selection may operate to maintain these genes and the particular duplication models that fit better to the observations. Our work supports the critical role of gene duplication in the evolution of flatworms, representing the first study of inparalogs evolution at the genome-wide level in this group.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Mauricio Langleib
- Laboratorio de Biología Computacional, Departamento de Desarrollo Biotecnológico, Instituto de Higiene, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay; Departamento de Genética, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay
| | - Javier Calvelo
- Laboratorio de Biología Computacional, Departamento de Desarrollo Biotecnológico, Instituto de Higiene, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay
| | - Alicia Costábile
- Sección Bioquímica, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay
| | - Estela Castillo
- Laboratorio de Biología Parasitaria, Instituto de Higiene, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay
| | - José F Tort
- Departamento de Genética, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay
| | - Federico G Hoffmann
- Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Entomology, and Plant Pathology, Mississippi State University, Mississippi, United States of America; Institute for Genomics, Biocomputing and Biotechnology, Mississippi State University, Mississippi, United States of America
| | - Anna V Protasio
- Department of Pathology, University of Cambridge, Tennis Court Road, CB2 1QP, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Uriel Koziol
- Sección Biología Celular, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay
| | - Andrés Iriarte
- Laboratorio de Biología Computacional, Departamento de Desarrollo Biotecnológico, Instituto de Higiene, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay.
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Fló M, Pellizza L, Durán R, Alvarez B, Fernández C. The monodomain Kunitz protein EgKU-7 from the dog tapeworm Echinococcus granulosus is a high-affinity trypsin inhibitor with two interaction sites. Biochem J 2024; 481:717-739. [PMID: 38752933 DOI: 10.1042/bcj20230514] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/04/2024] [Revised: 05/10/2024] [Accepted: 05/16/2024] [Indexed: 06/01/2024]
Abstract
Typical Kunitz proteins (I2 family of the MEROPS database, Kunitz-A family) are metazoan competitive inhibitors of serine peptidases that form tight complexes of 1:1 stoichiometry, mimicking substrates. The cestode Echinococcus granulosus, the dog tapeworm causing cystic echinococcosis in humans and livestock, encodes an expanded family of monodomain Kunitz proteins, some of which are secreted to the dog host interface. The Kunitz protein EgKU-7 contains, in addition to the Kunitz domain with the anti-peptidase loop comprising a critical arginine, a C-terminal extension of ∼20 amino acids. Kinetic, electrophoretic, and mass spectrometry studies using EgKU-7, a C-terminally truncated variant, and a mutant in which the critical arginine was substituted by alanine, show that EgKU-7 is a tight inhibitor of bovine and canine trypsins with the unusual property of possessing two instead of one site of interaction with the peptidases. One site resides in the anti-peptidase loop and is partially hydrolyzed by bovine but not canine trypsins, suggesting specificity for the target enzymes. The other site is located in the C-terminal extension. This extension can be hydrolyzed in a particular arginine by cationic bovine and canine trypsins but not by anionic canine trypsin. This is the first time to our knowledge that a monodomain Kunitz-A protein is reported to have two interaction sites with its target. Considering that putative orthologs of EgKU-7 are present in other cestodes, our finding unveils a novel piece in the repertoire of peptidase-inhibitor interactions and adds new notes to the evolutionary host-parasite concerto.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Martín Fló
- Departamento de Biociencias, Facultad de Química, Universidad de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay
| | - Leonardo Pellizza
- Departamento de Biociencias, Facultad de Química, Universidad de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay
| | - Rosario Durán
- Unidad de Bioquímica y Proteómica Analíticas, Institut Pasteur de Montevideo and Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas Clemente Estable, Montevideo, Uruguay
| | - Beatriz Alvarez
- Laboratorio de Enzimología, Instituto de Química Biológica, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay
| | - Cecilia Fernández
- Departamento de Biociencias, Facultad de Química, Universidad de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Sanches RCO, Mambelli F, Oliveira SC. Neutrophils and schistosomiasis: a missing piece in pathology. Parasite Immunol 2022; 44:e12916. [PMID: 35332932 DOI: 10.1111/pim.12916] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/26/2022] [Revised: 03/10/2022] [Accepted: 03/18/2022] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
Schistosomiasis is a chronic human parasitic disease that causes serious health problems worldwide. The disease-associated liver pathology is one of the hallmarks of infections by S. mansoni and S. japonicum, and is accountable for the debilitating condition found in infected patients. In the past few years, investigative studies have highlighted the key role played by neutrophils and the influence of inflammasome signaling pathway in different pathological conditions. However, it is noteworthy that the study of inflammasome activation in neutrophils has been overlooked by reports concerning macrophages and monocytes. This interplay between neutrophils and inflammasomes is much more poorly investigated during schistosomiasis. Herein we reviewed the role of neutrophils during schistosomiasis and addressed the potential connection between these cells and inflammasome activation in this context.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Rodrigo C O Sanches
- Departamento de Bioquímica e Imunologia, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Fábio Mambelli
- Departamento de Bioquímica e Imunologia, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Sergio C Oliveira
- Departamento de Bioquímica e Imunologia, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil.,Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia em Doenças Tropicais (INCT-DT), CNPq MCT, Salvador, Brazil
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Schistocins: Novel antimicrobial peptides encrypted in the Schistosoma mansoni Kunitz Inhibitor SmKI-1. Biochim Biophys Acta Gen Subj 2021; 1865:129989. [PMID: 34389467 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbagen.2021.129989] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2021] [Revised: 07/30/2021] [Accepted: 08/06/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Here we describe a new class of cryptides (peptides encrypted within a larger protein) with antimicrobial properties, named schistocins, derived from SmKI-1, a key protein in Shistosoma mansoni survival. This is a multi-functional protein with biotechnological potential usage as a therapeutic molecule in inflammatory diseases and to control schistosomiasis. METHODS We used our algorithm enCrypted, to perform an in silico proteolysis of SmKI-1 and a screening for potential antimicrobial activity. The selected peptides were chemically synthesized, tested in vitro and evaluated by both structural (CD, NMR) and biophysical (ITC) studies to access their structure-function relationship. RESULTS EnCrypted was capable of predicting AMPs in SmKI-1. Our biophysical analyses described a membrane-induced conformational change from random coil-to-α-helix and a peptide-membrane equilibrium for all schistocins. Our structural data allowed us to suggest a well-known mode of peptide-membrane interaction in which electrostatic attraction between the cationic peptides and anionic membranes results in the bilayer disordering. Moreover, the NMR exchange H/D data with the higher entropic contribution observed for the peptide-membrane interaction showed that shistocins have different orientations upon the membrane. CONCLUSIONS This work demonstrate the robustness for using the physicochemical features of predicted peptides in the identification of new bioactive cryptides besides the relevance of combining these analyses with biophysical methods to understand the peptide-membrane affinity and improve further algorithms. GENERAL SIGNIFICANCE Bioprospecting cryptides can be conducted through data mining of protein databases demonstrating the success of our strategy. The peptides-based agents derived from SmKI-1 might have high impact for system-biology and biotechnology.
Collapse
|