High throughput LC-MS/MS-based proteomic analysis of excretory-secretory products from short-term in vitro culture of Haemonchus contortus

摘要

Parasitic nematodes of humans, animals and plants have a major, adverse impact on global health and agricultural production worldwide. To cope with their surrounding environment in and the immune attack from the host, excretory-secretory (ES) proteins are released by nematodes to orchestrate or regulate parasite-host interactions. In the present study, we characterised the ES products from short-term (12 h) in vitro culture of different developmental stages/sexes of Haemonchus contortus (one of the most important parasitic nematodes of livestock animals worldwide) using a high throughput tandem mass-spectrometry, underpinned by the most recent genomic dataset. In total, 878 unique proteins from key developmental stages/sexes (third-stage and fourth-stage larvae, and female and male adults) were identified and quantified with high confidence. Bioinformatic analyses showed noteworthy ES protein alterations during the transition from the free-living to the parasitic phase, especially for proteins which are likely involved in nutrient digestion and acquisition as well as parasite-host interactions, such as proteolytic cascade-related peptidases, glycoside hydrolases, C-type lectins and sperm-coating protein/Tpx/antigen 5/pathogenesis related-1/Sc7 (= SCP/TAPS) proteins. Our findings provide an avenue to better explore interactive processes between the host and this highly significant parasitic nematode, to underpin the search for novel drug and vaccine targets.