Gene expression profiles associated with the transition to parasitism in Ancylostoma caninum larvae.
Ancylostoma caninum is a common canine parasite responsible for anemia and death in infected dogs. Gene expression profiling was used to investigate molecular differences between two different forms of the third larval stage (L3s): infective free-living larvae and in vitro serum-stimulated larvae that mimic the initial stages of parasitism of a host. We developed an A. caninum cDNA microarray consisting of 4191 EST clones, and used it to identify a set of 113 genes that are differentially regulated between infective and parasitic larval stages. Real-time RT-PCR was used to confirm the expression differences of a subset of the genes. Of the genes repressed upon serum stimulation, seven encode members of the 'Ancylostoma secreted protein' ASP family, while another transcript encoding a 24 kDa excretory protein with similarity to ASP was up-regulated in serum-stimulated L3s. This suggests that different members of a protein family that has important implications for the hookworm's parasitic lifestyle are regulated in a complementary manner in response to serum stimulation. Comparison of two strains of A. caninum from North Carolina and Maryland only identified a single gene, one of the members of the ASP family, that was differentially repressed upon serum stimulation.
Department of Genetics, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA.
Jennifer M
JM
Moser
Tori
T
Freitas
Prema
P
Arasu
Greg
G
Gibson
D000722:Ancylostoma / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D000818:Animals; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000235:genetics; D018076:DNA, Complementary / Q000235:genetics; D018509:DNA, Helminth / Q000235:genetics; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D015801:Helminth Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D007814:Larva; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis
D018076:DNA, Complementary; D018509:DNA, Helminth; D015801:Helminth Proteins