Amino acids serve as an important energy source for adult flukes of Clonorchis sinensis.
Clonorchiasis, caused by chronic infection with Clonorchis sinensis (C. sinensis), is an important food-borne parasitic disease that seriously afflicts more than 35 million people globally, resulting in a socioeconomic burden in endemic regions. C. sinensis adults long-term inhabit the microaerobic...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2020-04-01
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| Series: | PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0008287 |
| _version_ | 1831665767679000576 |
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| author | Shan Li Xueqing Chen Juanjuan Zhou Zhizhi Xie Mei Shang Lei He Pei Liang Tingjin Chen Qiang Mao Chi Liang Xuerong Li Yan Huang Xinbing Yu |
| author_facet | Shan Li Xueqing Chen Juanjuan Zhou Zhizhi Xie Mei Shang Lei He Pei Liang Tingjin Chen Qiang Mao Chi Liang Xuerong Li Yan Huang Xinbing Yu |
| author_sort | Shan Li |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Clonorchiasis, caused by chronic infection with Clonorchis sinensis (C. sinensis), is an important food-borne parasitic disease that seriously afflicts more than 35 million people globally, resulting in a socioeconomic burden in endemic regions. C. sinensis adults long-term inhabit the microaerobic and limited-glucose environment of the bile ducts. Energy metabolism plays a key role in facilitating the adaptation of adult flukes to crowded habitat and hostile environment. To understand energy source for adult flukes, we compared the component and content of free amino acids between C. sinensis-infected and uninfected bile. The results showed that the concentrations of free amino acids, including aspartic acid, serine, glycine, alanine, histidine, asparagine, threonine, lysine, hydroxylysine, and urea, were significantly higher in C. sinensis-infected bile than those in uninfected bile. Furthermore, exogenous amino acids could be utilized by adult flukes via the gluconeogenesis pathway regardless of the absence or presence of exogenous glucose, and the rate-limiting enzymes, such as C. sinensis glucose-6-phosphatase, fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase, phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase, and pyruvate carboxylase, exhibited high expression levels by quantitative real-time PCR analysis. Interestingly, no matter whether exogenous glucose was present, inhibition of gluconeogenesis reduced the glucose and glycogen levels as well as the viability and survival time of adult flukes. These results suggest that gluconeogenesis might play a vital role in energy metabolism of C. sinensis and exogenous amino acids probably serve as an important energy source that benefits the continued survival of adult flukes in the host. Our study will be a cornerstone for illuminating the biological characteristics of C. sinensis and the host-parasite interactions. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-19T19:40:23Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-25a3341b5bb947a385497c45d7b23324 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1935-2727 1935-2735 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-19T19:40:23Z |
| publishDate | 2020-04-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases |
| spelling | doaj.art-25a3341b5bb947a385497c45d7b233242022-12-21T20:08:16ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases1935-27271935-27352020-04-01144e000828710.1371/journal.pntd.0008287Amino acids serve as an important energy source for adult flukes of Clonorchis sinensis.Shan LiXueqing ChenJuanjuan ZhouZhizhi XieMei ShangLei HePei LiangTingjin ChenQiang MaoChi LiangXuerong LiYan HuangXinbing YuClonorchiasis, caused by chronic infection with Clonorchis sinensis (C. sinensis), is an important food-borne parasitic disease that seriously afflicts more than 35 million people globally, resulting in a socioeconomic burden in endemic regions. C. sinensis adults long-term inhabit the microaerobic and limited-glucose environment of the bile ducts. Energy metabolism plays a key role in facilitating the adaptation of adult flukes to crowded habitat and hostile environment. To understand energy source for adult flukes, we compared the component and content of free amino acids between C. sinensis-infected and uninfected bile. The results showed that the concentrations of free amino acids, including aspartic acid, serine, glycine, alanine, histidine, asparagine, threonine, lysine, hydroxylysine, and urea, were significantly higher in C. sinensis-infected bile than those in uninfected bile. Furthermore, exogenous amino acids could be utilized by adult flukes via the gluconeogenesis pathway regardless of the absence or presence of exogenous glucose, and the rate-limiting enzymes, such as C. sinensis glucose-6-phosphatase, fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase, phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase, and pyruvate carboxylase, exhibited high expression levels by quantitative real-time PCR analysis. Interestingly, no matter whether exogenous glucose was present, inhibition of gluconeogenesis reduced the glucose and glycogen levels as well as the viability and survival time of adult flukes. These results suggest that gluconeogenesis might play a vital role in energy metabolism of C. sinensis and exogenous amino acids probably serve as an important energy source that benefits the continued survival of adult flukes in the host. Our study will be a cornerstone for illuminating the biological characteristics of C. sinensis and the host-parasite interactions.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0008287 |
| spellingShingle | Shan Li Xueqing Chen Juanjuan Zhou Zhizhi Xie Mei Shang Lei He Pei Liang Tingjin Chen Qiang Mao Chi Liang Xuerong Li Yan Huang Xinbing Yu Amino acids serve as an important energy source for adult flukes of Clonorchis sinensis. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases |
| title | Amino acids serve as an important energy source for adult flukes of Clonorchis sinensis. |
| title_full | Amino acids serve as an important energy source for adult flukes of Clonorchis sinensis. |
| title_fullStr | Amino acids serve as an important energy source for adult flukes of Clonorchis sinensis. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Amino acids serve as an important energy source for adult flukes of Clonorchis sinensis. |
| title_short | Amino acids serve as an important energy source for adult flukes of Clonorchis sinensis. |
| title_sort | amino acids serve as an important energy source for adult flukes of clonorchis sinensis |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0008287 |
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