Tissue specific profiling of females of Schistosoma japonicum by integrated laser microdissection microscopy and microarray analysis.

The functions of many schistosome gene products remain to be characterized. A major step towards elucidating function of these genes would be in defining their sites of expression. This goal is rendered difficult to achieve by the generally small size of the parasites and the lack of a body cavity,...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases
Main Authors: Geoffrey N Gobert, Donald P McManus, Sujeevi Nawaratna, Luke Moertel, Jason Mulvenna, Malcolm K Jones
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2009
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Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0000469
https://doaj.org/article/73b70d6ae9564bb3a3563626f774b8c7
Description
Summary:The functions of many schistosome gene products remain to be characterized. A major step towards elucidating function of these genes would be in defining their sites of expression. This goal is rendered difficult to achieve by the generally small size of the parasites and the lack of a body cavity, which precludes analysis of transcriptional profiles of the tissues in isolation.Here, we describe a combined laser microdissection microscopy (LMM) and microarray analysis approach to expedite tissue specific profiling and gene atlasing for tissues of adult female Schistosoma japonicum. This approach helps to solve the gene characterization "bottle-neck" brought about by acoelomy and the size of these parasites. Complementary RNA obtained after isolation from gastrodermis (parasite gut mucosa), vitelline glands and ovary by LMM were subjected to microarray analyses, resulting in identification of 147 genes upregulated in the gastrodermis, 4,149 genes in the ovary and 2,553 in the vitellaria.This work will help to shed light on the molecular pathobiology of this debilitating human parasite and aid in the discovery of new targets for the development of anti-schistosome vaccines and drugs.