title: Fatty acid oxidation is essential for egg production by the parasitic flatworm Schistosoma mansoni.
abstract: Schistosomes, parasitic flatworms that cause the neglected tropical disease schistosomiasis, have been considered to have an entirely carbohydrate based metabolism, with glycolysis playing a dominant role in the adult parasites. However, we have discovered a close link between mitochondrial oxygen consumption by female schistosomes and their ability to produce eggs. We show that oxygen consumption rates (OCR) and egg production are significantly diminished by pharmacologic inhibition of carnitine palmitoyl transferase 1 (CPT1), which catalyzes a rate limiting step in fatty acid β-oxidation (FAO) and by genetic loss of function of acyl CoA synthetase, which complexes with CPT1 and activates long chain FA for use in FAO, and of acyl CoA dehydrogenase, which catalyzes the first step in FAO within mitochondria. Declines in OCR and egg production correlate with changes in a network of lipid droplets within cells in a specialized reproductive organ, the vitellarium. Our data point to the importance of regulated lipid stores and FAO for the compartmentalized process of egg production in schistosomes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Immunology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, United States of America.
authors.forename: Stanley Ching-Cheng
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Tori C
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Freitas
authors.forename: Eyal
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Amiel
authors.forename: Bart
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Everts
authors.forename: Erika L
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Pearce
authors.forename: James B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Lok
authors.forename: Edward J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Pearce
mesh_terms: D042964:Acyl-CoA Dehydrogenase / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D002334:Carnitine O-Palmitoyltransferase / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000378:metabolism; D003066:Coenzyme A Ligases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D050356:Lipid Metabolism; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000378:metabolism; D010058:Oviposition; D010063:Ovum / Q000502:physiology*; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D010085:Oxidative Phosphorylation; D010101:Oxygen Consumption; D034622:RNA Interference; D034741:RNA, Small Interfering; D012550:Schistosoma mansoni / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D012552:Schistosomiasis
chemical_list: D005227:Fatty Acids; D034741:RNA, Small Interfering; D042964:Acyl-CoA Dehydrogenase; D002334:Carnitine O-Palmitoyltransferase; D003066:Coenzyme A Ligases