Comparison of Echinococcus multilocularis and Echinococcus granulosus hydatid fluid proteome provides molecular strategies for specialized host-parasite interactions

// Chun-Seob Ahn 1 , Jeong-Geun Kim 1 , Xiumin Han 2, 3 , Insug Kang 4 and Yoon Kong 1 1 Department of Molecular Parasitology, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Suwon, Korea 2 Qinghai Province Institute for Endemic Diseases Prevention and Control, Xining, China 3 Clinical Research Institute for Hydatid Disease, Qinghai Provincial People’s Hospital, Xining, China 4 Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, Kyung Hee University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea Correspondence to: Yoon Kong, email: kongy@skku.edu Keywords: alveolar echinococcosis, cystic echinococcosis, hydatid fluid, proteome, protein-protein interaction networks Received: June 22, 2017      Accepted: August 09, 2017      Published: September 08, 2017 ABSTRACT Alveolar and cystic echinococcoses, caused by the metacestodes of Echinococcus multilocularis and E. granulosus , are prevalent in several regions and invoke deleterious zoonotic helminthiases. Hydatid fluid (HF), which contains proteinaceous and non-proteinaceous secretions of the parasite- and host-derived components, critically affects the host-parasite interplay and disease progression. We conducted HF proteome profiling of fully mature E. multilocularis vesicle (nine months postinfection) and E. granulosus cyst (stage 2). We identified 120 and 153 proteins, respectively, in each fluid. Fifty-six and 84 proteins represented distinct species; 44 and 66 were parasites, and 12 and 18 were host-derived proteins. The five major parasite protein populations, which included antigen B isoforms, metabolic enzymes, proteases and inhibitors, extracellular matrix molecules (ECMs), and developmental proteins, were abundantly distributed in both fluids and also exclusively in one sample or the other. Carbohydrate-metabolizing enzymes were enriched in E. granulosus HF. In the E. multilocularis HF, proteins that constitute ECMs, which might facilitate adhesion and cytogenesis, were highly expressed. Those molecules had physical and functional relationships along with their biochemical properties through protein-protein interaction networks. Twelve host-derived proteins were largely segregated to serum components. The major proteins commonly and uniquely detected in these HFs and their symbiotic interactome relationships might reflect their biological roles in similar but distinct modes of maturation, invasion, and the longevity of the parasites in the hosts.