title: Gene Expression Profile in the Liver of Sheep Infected with Cystic Echinococcosis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Cystic Echinococcosis (CE), caused by infection with the Echinococcus granulosus (E. granulosus), represents considerable health problems in both humans and livestock. Nevertheless, the genetic program that regulates the host response to E. granulosus infection is largely unknown. Previously, using microarray analysis, we found that the innate immunity played a vital role in the E. granulosus defense of the intestine tissue where E. granulosus first invaded. Subsequently, we turned our attention to investigating the molecular immune mechanism in its organ target, the liver, which is where the E. granulosus metacestodes are established and live for very long periods. In this work, the microarray-based methodology was used to study gene expression profiles in the liver of sheep infected with E. granulosus at 8 weeks post infection, corresponding to the early cystic established phase.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 6 female-1-year-old healthy Kazakh sheep were used for the experiments. Three Kazakh sheep were orally infected with E. granulosus eggs, and the others remained untreated and served as controls. Sheep were humanely euthanized and necropsized at 8 weeks post-infection (the early stage of cyst established). The microarray was used to detect differential hepatic gene expression between CE infection sheep and healthy controls at this time point. Real-time PCR was used to validate the microarray data.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We found that E. granulosus infection induces 153 differentially expressed genes in the livers of infected sheep compared with healthy controls. Among them, 87 genes were up-regulated, and 66 genes were notably down-regulated. Functional analysis showed that these genes were associated with three major functional categories: (a) metabolism, (b) the immune system and (c) signaling and transport. Deeper analysis indicated that complement together with other genes associated with metabolism, played important roles in the defense of E. granulosus infection.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The present study identified genes profiling in the liver tissue of E. granulosus infection in sheep. The expression pattern obtained here could be helpful for understanding the molecular immunity mechanisms of host responses to E. granulosus infection. However, it is necessary to carry out further studies to evalute the role of these genes.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Animal Husbandary and Veterinary Medicine, Anhui Academy of Agriculture Sciences, Road Nongkenan, Hefei, 230031, Anhui, People's Republic of China.|College of Animal Science and Technology, Shihezi University, Road Beisi, Shihezi, 832003, Xinjiang, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Wenqiao
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Hui
authors.affiliation: College of Animal Science and Technology, Shihezi University, Road Beisi, Shihezi, 832003, Xinjiang, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Song
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: College of Animal Science and Technology, Shihezi University, Road Beisi, Shihezi, 832003, Xinjiang, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Xianxia
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: College of Animal Science and Technology, Shihezi University, Road Beisi, Shihezi, 832003, Xinjiang, People's Republic of China.|Center for Stem Cell and Translational Medicine, School of Life Sciences, Anhui University, Road Jiulong, Hefei, 230000, Anhui, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Qian
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Ban
authors.affiliation: Institute of Animal Husbandary and Veterinary Medicine, Anhui Academy of Agriculture Sciences, Road Nongkenan, Hefei, 230031, Anhui, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Sheng
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: College of Animal Science and Technology, Shihezi University, Road Beisi, Shihezi, 832003, Xinjiang, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Bin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Jia
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004443:Echinococcosis / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D008109:Liver Diseases, Parasitic / Q000235:genetics*; D012756:Sheep; D012757:Sheep Diseases / Q000235:genetics*