Computational and experimental analysis of the glycophosphatidylinositol-anchored proteome of the human parasitic nematode Brugia malayi

PLoS One. 2019 Sep 12;14(9):e0216849. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0216849. eCollection 2019.

Abstract

Further characterization of essential systems in the parasitic filarial nematode Brugia malayi is needed to better understand its biology, its interaction with its hosts, and to identify critical components that can be exploited to develop novel treatments. The production of glycophosphatidylinositol-anchored proteins (GPI-APs) is essential for eukaryotic cellular and physiological function. In addition, GPI-APs perform many important roles for cells. In this study, we characterized the B. malayi GPI-anchored proteome using both computational and experimental approaches. We used bioinformatic strategies to show the presence or absence of B. malayi GPI-AP biosynthetic pathway genes and to compile a putative B. malayi GPI-AP proteome using available prediction programs. We verified these in silico analyses using proteomics to identify GPI-AP candidates prepared from the surface of intact worms and from membrane enriched extracts. Our study represents the first description of the GPI-anchored proteome in B. malayi and lays the groundwork for further exploration of this essential protein modification as a target for novel anthelmintic therapeutic strategies.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Biosynthetic Pathways
  • Brugia malayi / genetics
  • Brugia malayi / metabolism*
  • Chromatography, Liquid
  • Filariasis / parasitology
  • GPI-Linked Proteins / metabolism*
  • Helminth Proteins / metabolism*
  • Humans
  • Protein Biosynthesis
  • Proteome*
  • Proteomics* / methods
  • Tandem Mass Spectrometry

Substances

  • GPI-Linked Proteins
  • Helminth Proteins
  • Proteome

Grants and funding

This work and all authors were funded internally by New England Biolabs, Ipswich, MA. The funders had no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.