RNAi-mediated silencing of Trichinella spiralis serpin-type serine protease inhibitors results in a reduction in larval infectivity.

Trichinella spiralis serpin-type serine protease inhibitors (TsSPIs) are expressed in adult worms (AW), newborn larvae (NBL) and muscle larvae (ML) of T. spiralis, with the ML stage demonstrating the highest expression level. This study aims to determine TsSPI functions in larval viability and invasion of intestinal epithelial cells in vitro, as well as their development, survival, and fecundity in vivo via RNAi. TsSPI-specific siRNAs and dsRNA were transfected into ML by incubation. The silencing effect of TsSPI transcription and expression was determined using qPCR and western blot, respectively. After incubation in 60 ng/μL dsRNA-TsSPI for 3 days, larval TsSPI mRNA and protein expression levels were reduced by 68.7% and 68.4% (P   0.05). Our results revealed that RNAi-mediated silencing of TsSPI expression in T. spiralis significantly reduced larval infectivity and survival in the host but had no effect on the survival rate and fecundity. Furthermore, TsSPIs have no effect on the growth and reproduction of parasites but may be directly involved in regulating the interaction of T. spiralis and the host. Therefore, TsSPIs are crucial in the process of T. spiralis larval invasion and parasite survival in the host.