Transient Transduction of the Strobilated Forms of Echinococcus granulosus

Summary

We describe a rapid transient transduction technique in different developmental stages of Echinococcus granulosus using third-generation lentiviral vectors.

Abstract

Cystic echinococcosis or hydatid disease is one of the most important zoonotic parasitic diseases caused by Echinococcus granulosus, a small tapeworm harbored in the intestine of canines. There is an urgent need for applied genetic research to understand the mechanisms of pathogenesis and disease control and prevention. However, the lack of an effective gene evaluation system impedes direct interpretation of the functional genetics of cestode parasites, including the Echinococcus species. The present study demonstrates the potential of lentiviral gene transient transduction in the metacestode and strobilated forms of E. granulosus. Protoscoleces (PSCs) were isolated from hydatid cysts and transferred to specific biphasic culture media to develop into strobilated worms. The worms were transfected with harvested third-generation lentivirus, along with HEK293T cells as a transduction process control. A pronounced fluorescence was detected in the strobilated worms over 24 h and 48 h, indicating transient lentiviral transduction in E. granulosus. This work presents the first attempt at lentivirus-based transient transduction in tapeworms and demonstrates the promising outcomes with potential implications in experimental studies on flatworm biology.

Introduction

Cystic echinococcosis (CE) is one of the most important helminth diseases caused by Echinococcus granulosus, a small tapeworm within the family Taeniidae^1,2. Extensive studies on immunodiagnostic and vaccine development for E. granulosus have been carried out. However, inadequate knowledge about the molecular basis of parasite biology poses major limitations in the diagnosis, management, and prevention of hydatid disease^3,4,5,6.

In recent....

Protocol

This study was approved by the National Institute for Medical Research Development and the Research Ethics Review Committee, No. 958680. Lentiviruses are classified as BSL-2 organisms; hence, all laboratory culture procedures in this protocol were carried out using sterile laboratory practices and conducted under a laminar flow hood according to NIH guidelines. Figure 1 demonstrates a schematic presentation of the study protocol for the different E. granulosus stages.

Discussion

Understanding the molecular basis of nematodes and Platyhelminthes biology is crucial to understanding the pathogenicity of zoonotic parasites²⁷. The lack of an effective gene evaluation system is a major obstacle to the direct interpretation of functional genetics of cestode parasites, including Echinococcus species^12,27. The present study demonstrates the excellent potential of lentivirus in E. granulosus transient tran.......

Materials

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
12-well culture plates	SPL Life Sciences	30012
25 cm2 culture flask	SPL Life Sciences	70325
6-well culture plates	SPL Life Sciences	30006
Calcium chloride	Sigma-Aldrich	C4901-500G	Working concentration: 2.5 mM
CMRL 1066 medium	Thermo Fisher Scientific	11530037
CO2 incubator	memmert	ICO150
D-(+)-Glucose	Sigma-Aldrich	G8270-1KG
DMEM	Life Technology	12100046
Dog bile			Isolated from a euthanized dog and sterilized by 0.2 μm syringe filter
Eosin Y	Sigma-Aldrich	E4009-5G	prepare 0.1% of Eosin for working exclusion test
Fetal Bovine Serum (FBS)	DNAbiotech	DB9723-100ml	Heat inactivation of FBS (30 min in 40 °C)
Fetal Bovine Serum (FCS)	DNAbiotech	DB9724-100ml	Heat inactivation of FCS (30 min in 40 °C)
HEK293T cells	BONbiotech	BN_0012.1.14	Human embryonic kidney 293T
HEPES buffered saline (HBS)	Sigma-Aldrich	51558-50ML	2x concentrate
Inverted fluorescence microscope	OLYMPUS	IX51
Penicillin	Sigma-Aldrich	P3032-10MU	Working concentration: 100 IU/mL
Pepsin	Roche	10108057001	Working concentration: 2 mg/mL, pH 2
Phosphate-buffered saline (PBS)	DNAbiotech	DB0011	This reagent solve in less than 1 min in D.W
Polybrene (Transfection reagent)	Sigma-Aldrich	TR-1003-G
RPMI medium	BioIdea	BI-1006-05
Sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3)	Sigma-Aldrich	S5761-1KG
Streptomycin	Sigma-Aldrich	S9137-25G	Working concentration: 100 μg/mL
Third-generation lentiviral plasmid (pCDH513b)	SBI System Biosciences (BioCat GmbH)	CD513B-1-SBI	Transfer vector (obtained commercially from Molecular Medicine Research Department of Iranian Academic Center for Education, Culture and Research (ACECR), Mashhad, Iran)
Third-generation lentiviral plasmid (pLPI and pLPII)	Invitrogen (Life Technologies)	K4975-00	Helper vector (obtained commercially from Molecular Medicine Research Department of Iranian Academic Center for Education, Culture and Research (ACECR), Mashhad, Iran)
Third-generation lentiviral plasmid (pMD2G)	Addgene	Plasmid 12259	Helper vector (obtained commercially from Molecular Medicine Research Department of Iranian Academic Center for Education, Culture and Research (ACECR), Mashhad, Iran)
Tris/EDTA Buffer (TE)	DNAbiotech	DB9713-100ml
Trypsin	Sigma-Aldrich	T9935-50MG	1x working solutions (pH 7.4–7.6)