title: Wnt4, the first member of the Wnt family identified in Schistosoma japonicum, regulates worm development by the canonical pathway.
abstract: The Wnt signaling pathway is an evolutionarily conserved signal transduction pathway used extensively during animal development. We aim, by increasing our understanding of the Wnt signaling pathway, to find a key gene or protein present in schistosomes that can be developed into vaccine candidate or drug target. We therefore isolated the Wnt4 gene from Schistosoma japonicum. Wnt4 encodes a putative protein of 558 amino acids which contains the conserved functional domain of the Wnt gene family. We suppressed the expression of Wnt4 mRNA in 10-day schistosomulae by RNA interference. Quantitative PCR analysis showed that Wnt4 displayed a 73% reduction in the transcript level. And GSK-3beta and beta-catenin, which are involved in Wnt canonical pathway, showed a 45% and 39% reduction in mRNA levels, respectively. PLC, CaMKII, DVL, and JNK, which are involved in Wnt non-canonical pathway, showed no reduction. These results suggest that the Wnt4 signal protein in S. japonicum regulates downstream genes by a canonical pathway. Wnt4 is the first member of the Wnt family to be identified in S. japonicum. An increased understanding of the Wnt signal transduction pathway will allow us to elucidate further the molecular mechanism of development in schistosomes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Veterinary Science, College of Veterinary Medicine, Northwest A&F University, No. 22, XiNong Rd, 712100, Yangling, China.
authors.forename: Hong-Fei
authors.initials: HF
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Xiao-Bo
authors.initials: XB
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Ya-Ping
authors.initials: YP
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.forename: Yan-Xun
authors.initials: YX
authors.lastname: Xia
authors.forename: Xin-Gang
authors.initials: XG
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.forename: Jian-Mei
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Xin-Yong
authors.initials: XY
authors.lastname: Qi
authors.forename: Chun-Xiu
authors.initials: CX
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.forename: Jiao-Jiao
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Lin
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D020868:Gene Silencing; D015801:Helminth Proteins / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D034622:RNA Interference; D012549:Schistosoma japonicum / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development*; D015398:Signal Transduction
chemical_list: D015801:Helminth Proteins; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins