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Woellner-Santos D, Tahira AC, Malvezzi JVM, Mesel V, Morales-Vicente DA, Trentini MM, Marques-Neto LM, Matos IA, Kanno AI, Pereira ASA, Teixeira AAR, Giordano RJ, Leite LCC, Pereira CAB, DeMarco R, Amaral MS, Verjovski-Almeida S. Schistosoma mansoni vaccine candidates identified by unbiased phage display screening in self-cured rhesus macaques. NPJ Vaccines 2024; 9:5. [PMID: 38177171 PMCID: PMC10767053 DOI: 10.1038/s41541-023-00803-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2023] [Accepted: 11/30/2023] [Indexed: 01/06/2024] Open
Abstract
Schistosomiasis, a challenging neglected tropical disease, affects millions of people worldwide. Developing a prophylactic vaccine against Schistosoma mansoni has been hindered by the parasite's biological complexity. In this study, we utilized the innovative phage-display immunoprecipitation followed by a sequencing approach (PhIP-Seq) to screen the immune response of 10 infected rhesus macaques during self-cure and challenge-resistant phases, identifying vaccine candidates. Our high-throughput S. mansoni synthetic DNA phage-display library encoded 99.6% of 119,747 58-mer peptides, providing comprehensive coverage of the parasite's proteome. Library screening with rhesus macaques' antibodies, from the early phase of establishment of parasite infection, identified significantly enriched epitopes of parasite extracellular proteins known to be expressed in the digestive tract, shifting towards intracellular proteins during the late phase of parasite clearance. Immunization of mice with a selected pool of PhIP-Seq-enriched phage-displayed peptides from MEG proteins, cathepsins B, and asparaginyl endopeptidase significantly reduced worm burden in a vaccination assay. These findings enhance our understanding of parasite-host immune responses and provide promising prospects for developing an effective schistosomiasis vaccine.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daisy Woellner-Santos
- Laboratório de Ciclo Celular, Instituto Butantan, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
- Instituto de Química, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
| | - Ana C Tahira
- Laboratório de Ciclo Celular, Instituto Butantan, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
| | - João V M Malvezzi
- Laboratório de Ciclo Celular, Instituto Butantan, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
- Instituto de Matemática e Estatística, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
| | - Vinicius Mesel
- Laboratório de Ciclo Celular, Instituto Butantan, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
| | - David A Morales-Vicente
- Laboratório de Ciclo Celular, Instituto Butantan, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
- Instituto de Química, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
| | - Monalisa M Trentini
- Laboratório de Desenvolvimento de Vacinas, Instituto Butantan, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
| | - Lázaro M Marques-Neto
- Laboratório de Desenvolvimento de Vacinas, Instituto Butantan, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
| | - Isaac A Matos
- Instituto de Química, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
| | - Alex I Kanno
- Laboratório de Desenvolvimento de Vacinas, Instituto Butantan, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
| | - Adriana S A Pereira
- Laboratório de Ciclo Celular, Instituto Butantan, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
- Instituto de Química, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
| | - André A R Teixeira
- Instituto de Química, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
- Institute for Protein Innovation, Boston, MA, USA
| | | | - Luciana C C Leite
- Laboratório de Desenvolvimento de Vacinas, Instituto Butantan, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
| | - Carlos A B Pereira
- Instituto de Matemática e Estatística, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
| | - Ricardo DeMarco
- Instituto de Física de São Carlos, Universidade de São Paulo, São Carlos, SP, Brazil
| | - Murilo S Amaral
- Laboratório de Ciclo Celular, Instituto Butantan, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
| | - Sergio Verjovski-Almeida
- Laboratório de Ciclo Celular, Instituto Butantan, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
- Instituto de Química, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
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Nedvědová Š, De Stefano D, Walker O, Hologne M, Miele AE. Revisiting Schistosoma mansoni Micro-Exon Gene (MEG) Protein Family: A Tour into Conserved Motifs and Annotation. Biomolecules 2023; 13:1275. [PMID: 37759676 PMCID: PMC10526429 DOI: 10.3390/biom13091275] [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: 07/20/2023] [Revised: 08/15/2023] [Accepted: 08/18/2023] [Indexed: 09/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Genome sequencing of the human parasite Schistosoma mansoni revealed an interesting gene superfamily, called micro-exon gene (meg), that encodes secreted MEG proteins. The genes are composed of short exons (3-81 base pairs) regularly interspersed with long introns (up to 5 kbp). This article recollects 35 S. mansoni specific meg genes that are distributed over 7 autosomes and one pair of sex chromosomes and that code for at least 87 verified MEG proteins. We used various bioinformatics tools to produce an optimal alignment and propose a phylogenetic analysis. This work highlighted intriguing conserved patterns/motifs in the sequences of the highly variable MEG proteins. Based on the analyses, we were able to classify the verified MEG proteins into two subfamilies and to hypothesize their duplication and colonization of all the chromosomes. Together with motif identification, we also proposed to revisit MEGs' common names and annotation in order to avoid duplication, to help the reproducibility of research results and to avoid possible misunderstandings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Štěpánka Nedvědová
- UMR 5280 Institute of Analytical Sciences, Université de Lyon, CNRS, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, 69100 Villeurbanne, France; (Š.N.); (O.W.); (M.H.)
- Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Agrobiology, Food and Natural Resources, Czech University of Life Sciences, 16500 Prague, Czech Republic
- Department of Zoology and Fisheries, Center of Infectious Animal Diseases, Czech University of Life Sciences, 16500 Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Davide De Stefano
- UMR 5280 Institute of Analytical Sciences, Université de Lyon, CNRS, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, 69100 Villeurbanne, France; (Š.N.); (O.W.); (M.H.)
| | - Olivier Walker
- UMR 5280 Institute of Analytical Sciences, Université de Lyon, CNRS, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, 69100 Villeurbanne, France; (Š.N.); (O.W.); (M.H.)
| | - Maggy Hologne
- UMR 5280 Institute of Analytical Sciences, Université de Lyon, CNRS, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, 69100 Villeurbanne, France; (Š.N.); (O.W.); (M.H.)
| | - Adriana Erica Miele
- UMR 5280 Institute of Analytical Sciences, Université de Lyon, CNRS, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, 69100 Villeurbanne, France; (Š.N.); (O.W.); (M.H.)
- Department of Biochemical Sciences, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy
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Ittiprasert W, Chatupheeraphat C, Mann VH, Li W, Miller A, Ogunbayo T, Tran K, Alrefaei YN, Mentink-Kane M, Brindley PJ. RNA-Guided AsCas12a- and SpCas9-Catalyzed Knockout and Homology Directed Repair of the Omega-1 Locus of the Human Blood Fluke, Schistosoma mansoni. Int J Mol Sci 2022; 23:631. [PMID: 35054816 PMCID: PMC8775552 DOI: 10.3390/ijms23020631] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2021] [Revised: 12/30/2021] [Accepted: 01/01/2022] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
The efficiency of the RNA-guided AsCas12a nuclease of Acidaminococcus sp. was compared with SpCas9 from Streptococcus pyogenes, for functional genomics in Schistosoma mansoni. We deployed optimized conditions for the ratio of guide RNAs to the nuclease, donor templates, and electroporation parameters, to target a key schistosome enzyme termed omega-1. Programmed cleavages catalyzed by Cas12a and Cas9 resulted in staggered- and blunt-ended strand breaks, respectively. AsCas12a was more efficient than SpCas9 for gene knockout, as determined by TIDE analysis. CRISPResso2 analysis confirmed that most mutations were deletions. Knockout efficiency of both nucleases markedly increased in the presence of single-stranded oligodeoxynucleotide (ssODN) template. With AsCas12a, ssODNs representative of both the non-CRISPR target (NT) and target (T) strands were tested, resulting in KO efficiencies of 15.67, 28.71, and 21.43% in the SpCas9 plus ssODN, AsCas12a plus NT-ssODN, and AsCas12a plus T-ssODN groups, respectively. Trans-cleavage against the ssODNs by activated AsCas12a was not apparent in vitro. SpCas9 catalyzed more precise transgene insertion, with knock-in efficiencies of 17.07% for the KI_Cas9 group, 14.58% for KI_Cas12a-NT-ssODN, and 12.37% for KI_Cas12a-T-ssODN. Although AsCas12a induced fewer mutations per genome than SpCas9, the phenotypic impact on transcription and expression of omega-1 was similar for both nucleases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wannaporn Ittiprasert
- Department of Microbiology, Immunology & Tropical Medicine, & Research Center for Neglected Diseases of Poverty, School of Medicine & Health Sciences, George Washington University, Washington, DC 20037, USA; (C.C.); (V.H.M.); (W.L.); (Y.N.A.)
| | - Chawalit Chatupheeraphat
- Department of Microbiology, Immunology & Tropical Medicine, & Research Center for Neglected Diseases of Poverty, School of Medicine & Health Sciences, George Washington University, Washington, DC 20037, USA; (C.C.); (V.H.M.); (W.L.); (Y.N.A.)
- Center for Research and Innovation, Faculty of Medical Technology, Mahidol University, Salaya, Nakhon Pathom 73170, Thailand
| | - Victoria H. Mann
- Department of Microbiology, Immunology & Tropical Medicine, & Research Center for Neglected Diseases of Poverty, School of Medicine & Health Sciences, George Washington University, Washington, DC 20037, USA; (C.C.); (V.H.M.); (W.L.); (Y.N.A.)
| | - Wenhui Li
- Department of Microbiology, Immunology & Tropical Medicine, & Research Center for Neglected Diseases of Poverty, School of Medicine & Health Sciences, George Washington University, Washington, DC 20037, USA; (C.C.); (V.H.M.); (W.L.); (Y.N.A.)
- Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Lanzhou 730050, China
| | - André Miller
- Schistosomiasis Resource Center, Biomedical Research Institute, Rockville, MD 20850, USA; (A.M.); (T.O.); (K.T.); (M.M.-K.)
| | - Taiwo Ogunbayo
- Schistosomiasis Resource Center, Biomedical Research Institute, Rockville, MD 20850, USA; (A.M.); (T.O.); (K.T.); (M.M.-K.)
| | - Kenny Tran
- Schistosomiasis Resource Center, Biomedical Research Institute, Rockville, MD 20850, USA; (A.M.); (T.O.); (K.T.); (M.M.-K.)
| | - Yousef N. Alrefaei
- Department of Microbiology, Immunology & Tropical Medicine, & Research Center for Neglected Diseases of Poverty, School of Medicine & Health Sciences, George Washington University, Washington, DC 20037, USA; (C.C.); (V.H.M.); (W.L.); (Y.N.A.)
- Department of Medical Laboratory Technology, College of Health Sciences, PAEET, Adailiya, Kuwait City 73101, Kuwait
| | - Margaret Mentink-Kane
- Schistosomiasis Resource Center, Biomedical Research Institute, Rockville, MD 20850, USA; (A.M.); (T.O.); (K.T.); (M.M.-K.)
| | - Paul J. Brindley
- Department of Microbiology, Immunology & Tropical Medicine, & Research Center for Neglected Diseases of Poverty, School of Medicine & Health Sciences, George Washington University, Washington, DC 20037, USA; (C.C.); (V.H.M.); (W.L.); (Y.N.A.)
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