A highly expressed intestinal cysteine protease of Ancylostoma ceylanicum protects vaccinated hamsters from hookworm infection.

BACKGROUND: Human hookworms (Necator americanus, Ancylostoma duodenale, and Ancylostoma ceylanicum) are intestinal blood-feeding parasites that infect ~500 million people worldwide and are among the leading causes of iron-deficiency anemia in the developing world. Drugs are useful against hookworm infections, but hookworms rapidly reinfect people, and the parasites can develop drug resistance. Therefore, having a hookworm vaccine would be of tremendous benefit. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We investigated the vaccine efficacy in outbred Syrian hamsters of three A. ceylanicum hookworm antigen candidates from two classes of proteins previously identified as promising vaccine candidates. These include two intestinally-enriched, putatively secreted cathepsin B cysteine proteases (AceyCP1, AceyCPL) and one small Kunitz-type protease inhibitor (AceySKPI3). Recombinant proteins were produced in Pichia pastoris, and adsorbed to Alhydrogel. Recombinant AceyCPL (rAceyCPL)/Alhydrogel and rAceySKPI3/Alhydrogel induced high serum immunoglobulin G (IgG) titers in 8/8 vaccinates, but were not protective. rAceyCP1/Alhydrogel induced intermediate serum IgG titers in ~60% of vaccinates in two different trials. rAceyCP1 serum IgG responders had highly significantly decreased hookworm burdens, fecal egg counts and clinical pathology compared to Alhydrogel controls and nonresponders. Protection was highly correlated with rAceyCP1 serum IgG titer. Antisera from rAceyCP1 serum IgG responders, but not nonresponders or rAceyCPL/Alhydrogel vaccinates, significantly reduced adult A. ceylanicum motility in vitro. Furthermore, rAceyCP1 serum IgG responders had canonical Th2-specific recall responses (IL4, IL5, IL13) in splenocytes stimulated ex vivo. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: These findings indicate that rAceyCP1 is a promising vaccine candidate and validates a genomic/transcriptomic approach to human hookworm vaccine discovery.

Transcriptomic Effects of the Cell Cycle Regulator LGO in Arabidopsis Sepals.

Endoreduplication is a specialized cell cycle in which DNA replication occurs, but mitosis is skipped creating enlarged polyploid cells. Endoreduplication is associated with the differentiation of many specialized cell types. In the Arabidopsis thaliana sepal epidermis endoreduplicated giant cells form interspersed between smaller cells. Both the transcription factor Arabidopsis thaliana MERISTEM LAYER1 (ATML1) and the plant-specific cyclin dependent kinase inhibitor LOSS OF GIANT CELLS FROM ORGANS (LGO)/SIAMESE RELATED1 (SMR1) are required for the formation of giant cells. Overexpression of LGO is sufficient to produce sepals covered in highly endoreduplicated giant cells. Here we ask whether overexpression of LGO changes the transcriptome of these mature sepals. We show that overexpression of LGO in the epidermis (LGOoe) drives giant cell formation even in atml1 mutant sepals. Using RNA-seq we show that LGOoe has significant effects on the mature sepal transcriptome that are primarily ATML1-independent changes of gene activity. Genes activated by LGOoe, directly or indirectly, predominantly encode proteins involved in defense responses, including responses to wounding, insects (a predator of Arabidopsis), and fungus. They also encode components of the glucosinolate biosynthesis pathway, a key biochemical pathway in defense against herbivores. LGOoe-activated genes include previously known marker genes of systemic acquired resistance such as PR1 through PR5. The defensive functions promoted by LGOoe in sepals overlap with functions recently shown to be transcriptionally activated by hyperimmune cpr5 mutants in a LGO-dependent manner. Our findings show that the cell cycle regulator LGO can directly or indirectly drive specific states of gene expression; in particular, they are consistent with recent findings showing LGO to be necessary for transcriptional activation of many defense genes in Arabidopsis.

Promotion of bone morphogenetic protein signaling by tetraspanins and glycosphingolipids.

Bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) belong to the transforming growth factor ß (TGFß) superfamily of secreted molecules. BMPs play essential roles in multiple developmental and homeostatic processes in metazoans. Malfunction of the BMP pathway can cause a variety of diseases in humans, including cancer, skeletal disorders and cardiovascular diseases. Identification of factors that ensure proper spatiotemporal control of BMP signaling is critical for understanding how this pathway is regulated. We have used a unique and sensitive genetic screen to identify the plasma membrane-localized tetraspanin TSP-21 as a key new factor in the C. elegans BMP-like "Sma/Mab" signaling pathway that controls body size and postembryonic M lineage development. We showed that TSP-21 acts in the signal-receiving cells and genetically functions at the ligand-receptor level. We further showed that TSP-21 can associate with itself and with two additional tetraspanins, TSP-12 and TSP-14, which also promote Sma/Mab signaling. TSP-12 and TSP-14 can also associate with SMA-6, the type I receptor of the Sma/Mab pathway. Finally, we found that glycosphingolipids, major components of the tetraspanin-enriched microdomains, are required for Sma/Mab signaling. Our findings suggest that the tetraspanin-enriched membrane microdomains are important for proper BMP signaling. As tetraspanins have emerged as diagnostic and prognostic markers for tumor progression, and TSP-21, TSP-12 and TSP-14 are all conserved in humans, we speculate that abnormal BMP signaling due to altered expression or function of certain tetraspanins may be a contributing factor to cancer development.

Functional transcriptomics of a migrating cell in Caenorhabditis elegans.

In both metazoan development and metastatic cancer, migrating cells must carry out a detailed, complex program of sensing cues, binding substrates, and moving their cytoskeletons. The linker cell in Caenorhabditis elegans males undergoes a stereotyped migration that guides gonad organogenesis, occurs with precise timing, and requires the nuclear hormone receptor NHR-67. To better understand how this occurs, we performed RNA-seq of individually staged and dissected linker cells, comparing transcriptomes from linker cells of third-stage (L3) larvae, fourth-stage (L4) larvae, and nhr-67-RNAi-treated L4 larvae. We observed expression of 8,000-10,000 genes in the linker cell, 22-25% of which were up- or down-regulated 20-fold during development by NHR-67. Of genes that we tested by RNAi, 22% (45 of 204) were required for normal shape and migration, suggesting that many NHR-67-dependent, linker cell-enriched genes play roles in this migration. One unexpected class of genes up-regulated by NHR-67 was tandem pore potassium channels, which are required for normal linker-cell migration. We also found phenotypes for genes with human orthologs but no previously described migratory function. Our results provide an extensive catalog of genes that act in a migrating cell, identify unique molecular functions involved in nematode cell migration, and suggest similar functions in humans.

WormBase 2007.

WormBase (www.wormbase.org) is the major publicly available database of information about Caenorhabditis elegans, an important system for basic biological and biomedical research. Derived from the initial ACeDB database of C. elegans genetic and sequence information, WormBase now includes the genomic, anatomical and functional information about C. elegans, other Caenorhabditis species and other nematodes. As such, it is a crucial resource not only for C. elegans biologists but the larger biomedical and bioinformatics communities. Coverage of core areas of C. elegans biology will allow the biomedical community to make full use of the results of intensive molecular genetic analysis and functional genomic studies of this organism. Improved search and display tools, wider cross-species comparisons and extended ontologies are some of the features that will help scientists extend their research and take advantage of other nematode species genome sequences.

Aminoacyl-transferases and the N-end rule pathway of prokaryotic/eukaryotic specificity in a human pathogen.

The N-end rule relates the in vivo half-life of a protein to the identity of its N-terminal residue. Primary destabilizing N-terminal residues (Nd(p)) are recognized directly by the targeting machinery. The recognition of secondary destabilizing N-terminal residues (Nd(s)) is preceded by conjugation of an Nd(p) residue to Nd(s) of a polypeptide substrate. In eukaryotes, ATE1-encoded arginyl-transferases (R(D,E,C*)-transferases) conjugate Arg (R), an Nd(p) residue, to Nd(s) residues Asp (D), Glu (E), or oxidized Cys residue (C*). Ubiquitin ligases recognize the N-terminal Arg of a substrate and target the (ubiquitylated) substrate to the proteasome. In prokaryotes such as Escherichia coli, Nd(p) residues Leu (L) or Phe (F) are conjugated, by the aat-encoded Leu/Phe-transferase (L/F(K,R)-transferase), to N-terminal Arg or Lys, which are Nd(s) in prokaryotes but Nd(p) in eukaryotes. In prokaryotes, substrates bearing the Nd(p) residues Leu, Phe, Trp, or Tyr are degraded by the proteasome-like ClpAP protease. Despite enzymological similarities between eukaryotic R(D,E,C*)-transferases and prokaryotic L/F(K,R)-transferases, there is no significant sequelogy (sequence similarity) between them. We identified an aminoacyl-transferase, termed Bpt, in the human pathogen Vibrio vulnificus. Although it is a sequelog of eukaryotic R(D,E,C*)-transferases, this prokaryotic transferase exhibits a "hybrid" specificity, conjugating Nd(p) Leu to Nd(s) Asp or Glu. Another aminoacyl-transferase, termed ATEL1, of the eukaryotic pathogen Plasmodium falciparum, is a sequelog of prokaryotic L/F(K,R)-transferases (Aat), but has the specificity of eukaryotic R(D,E,C*)-transferases (ATE1). Phylogenetic analysis suggests that the substrate specificity of R-transferases arose by two distinct routes during the evolution of eukaryotes.