Recently, Scientist from Shanghai Veterinary Research Institute of Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences found that Schistosoma japonicum extracellular vesicle miRNA cargo regulates host macrophage functions facilitating parasitism.
Schistosomes that cause schistosomiasis infection persist for decades despite a host immune response. Therefore, elucidating the mechanism of schistosome survival will not only contribute to the understanding of host-parasite interaction but also lead to the development of novel strategies against schistosomiasis. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) and their miRNA cargo have been shown to be mediators of intercellular communication involved in the regulation of many biological processes. Scientist from Shanghai Veterinary Research Institute demonstrated that EVs released from Schistosoma japonicum (SjEVs) are taken up primarily by macrophages and other host peripheral blood immune cells and their miRNA cargo transferred into recipient cells. Uptake of S. japonicum EV miR-125b and bantam miRNAs into host cells increased macrophage proliferation and TNF-α production that contributes to parasite survival. the findings reveal key roles of SjEV miRNAs for facilitating parasitism in schistosomes.
The original research article has been published in Plos Pathogens.
https://journals.plos.org/plospathogens/article?id=10.1371/journal.ppat.1007817