Lili Hao

Seroepidemiology of human Toxoplasma gondii infection in China

BackgroundToxoplasmosis is an important zoonotic parasitic disease worldwide. In immune competent individuals, Toxoplasma gondii preferentially infects tissues of central nervous systems, which might be an adding factor of certain psychiatric disorders. Congenital transmission of T. gondii during pregnancy has been regarded as a risk factor for the health of newborn infants. While in immune-compromised individuals, the parasite can cause life-threatening infections. This study aims to investigate the prevalence of T. gondii infection among clinically healthy individuals and patients with psychiatric disorders in China and to identify the potential risk factors related to the vulnerability of infection in the population.MethodsSerum samples from 2634 healthy individuals and 547 patients with certain psychiatric disorders in Changchun and Daqing in the northeast, and in Shanghai in the south of China were examined respectively for the levels of anti-T. gondii IgG by indirect ELISA and a direct agglutination assay. Prevalence of T. gondii infection in the Chinese population in respect of gender, age, residence and health status was systematically analyzed.ResultsThe overall anti-T. gondii IgG prevalence in the study population was 12.3%. In the clinically healthy population 12.5% was sero-positive and in the group with psychiatric disorders 11.3% of these patients were positive with anti-T. gondii IgG. A significant difference (P = 0.004) was found between male and female in the healthy population, the seroprevalence was 10.5% in men versus 14.3% in women. Furthermore, the difference of T. gondii infection rate between male and female in the 20-19 years group was more obvious, with 6.4% in male population and 14.6% in female population.ConclusionA significant higher prevalence of T. gondii infection was observed in female in the clinically healthy population. No correlation was found between T. gondii infection and psychiatric disorders in this study. Results suggest that women are more exposed to T. gondii infection than men in China. The data argue for deeper investigations for the potential risk factors that threat the female populations.

A Deep Analysis of the Small Non-Coding RNA Population in Schistosoma japonicum Eggs

Background Schistosoma japonicum is a parasitic flatworm that causes zoonotic schistosomiasis. The typical outcome of schistosomiasis is hepatic granuloma and fibrosis, which is primarily induced by soluble egg-derived antigens. Although schistosomal eggs represent an important pathogenic stage to the host, the biology of this critical stage is largely unknown. We previously investigated the expression profiles of sncRNAs during different developmental stages of this parasite. However, using small RNA extracted from egg-deposited liver tissues generated limited information about sncRNAs in eggs. Here, we characterized the complete small RNAome in this stage of the parasite after optimization of RNA purification. Methodology and Principal Findings A library, SjE, was constructed with the small RNA extracted from S. japonicum eggs and subjected to high-throughput sequencing. The data were depicted by comprehensive bioinformatic analysis to explore the expression features of sncRNAs in the egg stage. MicroRNAs accounted for about one quarter of the total small RNA population in this stage, with a strongly biased expression pattern of certain miRNA family members. Sja-miR-71, sja-miR-71-5p, and sja-miR-36-3p were suggested to play important roles in embryo development. A panel of transfer RNA fragments (tRFs) precisely processed from the 5′ end of mature tRNAs was identified for the first time, which represented a strong egg stage-biased expression. The tRNA-Ala derived small RNAs were the most highly expressed Sj-tRFs in eggs. Further, the expression of siRNAs from 29 types of well-defined transposable elements (TEs) was observed to be relatively stable among different developmental stages. Conclusions and Significance In this study, we characterized the sncRNA profile in the egg stage of S. japonicum. Featured expression of sncRNAs, especially the tRNA-derived small RNAs, was identified, which was further compared with that of other developmental stages. These novel findings would facilitate a deeper understanding of the biology of schistosomal parasites.

Characterization of antibody responses to the Sj23 antigen of Schistosoma japonicum after infection and immunization

Sj23, a member of the tetraspanin protein family, is a 23-kDa surface-exposed protein of Schistosoma japonicum and expressed in all infective parasite stages, which has been regarded as a potential candidate in vaccine development for schistosomiasis. In this study, we found that, in the BALB/c mouse model, Sj23 elicited rapid humoral responses after parasite infection and the dominant antibodies were of IgG2a subclass. Immunization with Sj23 by priming with recombinant SFV RNA virus particles followed by a boost with recombinant protein also generated strong IgG2a responses which did not provide protection against challenge with cercariae. Our data indicated that one of the functions of Sj23 of S. japonicum is to facilitate parasite immune regulation. Sj23 antigen-based vaccine may require strong adjuvant that can drive IgG1 responses which are more critical in resistance to helminth infection.

Mapping the binding between the tetraspanin molecule (Sjc23) of Schistosoma japonicum and human non-immune IgG.

Background Schistosomal parasites can establish parasitization in a human host for decades; evasion of host immunorecognition including surface masking by acquisition of host serum components is one of the strategies explored by the parasites. Parasite molecules anchored on the membrane are the main elements in the interaction. Sjc23, a member of the tetraspanin (TSP) family of Schistosoma japonicum, was previously found to be highly immunogenic and regarded as a vaccine candidate against schistosomiasis. However, studies indicated that immunization with Sjc23 generated rapid antibody responses which were less protective than that with other antigens. The biological function of this membrane-anchored molecule has not been defined after decades of vaccination studies. Methodology and Principal Findings In this study, we explored affinity pull-down and peptide competition assays to investigate the potential binding between Sjc23 molecule and human non-immune IgG. We determined that Sjc23 could bind human non-immune IgG and the binding was through the interaction of the large extra-cellular domain (LED) of Sjc23 (named Sjc23-LED) with the Fc domain of human IgG. Sjc23 had no affinity to other immunoglobulin types. Affinity precipitation (pull-down assay) in the presence of overlapping peptides further pinpointed to a 9-amino acid motif within Sjc23-LED that mediated the binding to human IgG. Conclusion and Significance S. japonicum parasites cloak themselves through interaction with human non-immune IgG, and a member of the tetraspanin family, Sjc23, mediated the acquisition of human IgG via the interaction of a motif of 9 amino acids with the Fc domain of the IgG molecule. The consequence of this interaction will likely benefit parasitism of S. japonicum by evasion of host immune recognition or immunoresponses. This is the first report that an epitope of schistosomal ligand and its immunoglobulin receptor are defined, which provides further evidence of immune evasion strategy adopted by S. japonicum.

Chlorpyrifos residual behaviors in field crops and transfers during duck pellet feed processing.

Chlorpyrifos is a widely used organophosphorus pesticide in agricultural crops (including food) and animal feeds in China, resulting in heavy contamination. Many studies have focused on the food-processing effects on chlorpyrifos removal, but sufficient information is not observed for feed-processing steps. Here, chlorpyrifos residual behaviors in field crops and its transfers in duck pellet feed-processing steps were evaluated. In field trials, the highest residues for rice grain, shelled corn, and soybean seed were 12.0, 0.605, and 0.220 mg/kg, respectively. Residues of all rice grain and about half of shelled corn exceeded the maximum residue limits (MRLs) of China, and five soybean seeds exceeded the MRL of China. Chlorpyrifos residue was reduced 38.2% in brown rice after the raw rice grain was hulled. The residue in bran increased 71.2% after milling from brown rice. During the squashing step, the residue reduced 73.8% in soybean meal. The residues reduced significantly (23.7-36.8%) during the process of granulating for rice, maize, and soybean products. Comparatively, the grinding process showed only limited influence on chlorpyrifos removal (<10%). The residues of duck pellet feeds produced from highly contaminated raw materials of this study were 1.01 mg/kg (maize-soybean feed) and 3.20 mg/kg (rice-soybean feed), which were much higher than the generally accepted value (>0.1 mg/kg) for animal feeding. Chlorpyrifos residues were removed significantly by processing steps of pellet feeds, but the residue of raw materials was the determining factor for the safety of duck feeding.

Genotypic and Phenotypic Characterization of Antimicrobial-Resistant Escherichia coli from Farm-Raised Diarrheic Sika Deer in Northeastern China

In China, overuse and/or abuse of antimicrobials are common in stockbreeding, which possess high risks of antimicrobial-resistant contaminations. The serogroups, major virulence genes, and antimicrobial resistant patterns of the antimicrobial-resistant Escherichia coli (E. coli) were investigated in the feces of diarrheic farm-raised sika deer from 50 farms in three Northeastern provinces of China. A total of 220 E. coli isolates were obtained and characterized. Twenty-eight O serogroups were identified from the obtained E. coli isolates with O2, O26, O128, O142 and O154 being dominant. Nearly all the isolates were resistant to at least four of the tested antimicrobials. More than 90% of the E. coli isolates carried at least one of the tested virulence genes. About 85% of the E. coli isolates carried one or more antimicrobial-resistant genes responsible for resistant phenotypes of sulfonamides, streptomycin/spectionomycin or tetracycline. The antimicrobial resistant level and pathogenic group occurrences of the obtained E. coli isolates were higher than that of livestock and wild animals reported in some developed countries. Thus, the fecal-carrying antimicrobial-resistant E. coli from the farm-raised sika deer is potentially a significant contamination source for freshwater systems and food chain, and may pose great health risks for human and animals in Northeastern China.

Genome-Wide Transcriptome Analysis Reveals Extensive Alternative Splicing Events in the Protoscoleces of Echinococcus granulosus and Echinococcus multilocularis

Alternative splicing (AS), as one of the most important topics in the post-genomic era, has been extensively studied in numerous organisms. However, little is known about the prevalence and characteristics of AS in Echinococcus species, which can cause significant health problems to humans and domestic animals. Based on high-throughput RNA-sequencing data, we performed a genome-wide survey of AS in two major pathogens of echinococcosis-Echinococcus granulosus and Echinococcus multilocularis. Our study revealed that the prevalence and characteristics of AS in protoscoleces of the two parasites were generally consistent with each other. A total of 6,826 AS events from 3,774 E. granulosus genes and 6,644 AS events from 3,611 E. multilocularis genes were identified in protoscolex transcriptomes, indicating that 33–36% of genes were subject to AS in the two parasites. Strikingly, intron retention instead of exon skipping was the predominant type of AS in Echinococcus species. Moreover, analysis of the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway indicated that genes that underwent AS events were significantly enriched in multiple pathways mainly related to metabolism (e.g., purine, fatty acid, galactose, and glycerolipid metabolism), signal transduction (e.g., Jak-STAT, VEGF, Notch, and GnRH signaling pathways), and genetic information processing (e.g., RNA transport and mRNA surveillance pathways). The landscape of AS obtained in this study will not only facilitate future investigations on transcriptome complexity and AS regulation during the life cycle of Echinococcus species, but also provide an invaluable resource for future functional and evolutionary studies of AS in platyhelminth parasites.