The filarial nematode Brugia malayi is one of the causative agents of lymphatic filariasis, a neglected tropical disease that affects 120 million people worldwide. The limited effectiveness of available anthelmintics and the absence of a vaccine have prompted extensive research on the interaction between Brugia and its obligate bacterial endosymbiont, Wolbachia. Recent studies suggest that Wolbachia is able to manipulate its nematode host immunity but relatively little is known about the immune system of filarial nematodes. Therefore, elucidation of the mechanisms underlying the immune system of B. malayi may be useful for understanding how the symbiotic relationship is maintained and help in the identification of new drug targets. In order to characterize the main genetic pathways involved in B. malayi immunity, we exposed adult female worms to two bacterial lysates (Escherichia coli and Bacillus amyloliquefaciens), dsRNA and dsDNA. We performed transcriptome sequencing of worms exposed to each immune elicitor at two different timepoints. Gene expression analysis of untreated and immune-challenged worms was performed to characterize gene expression patterns associated with each type of immune stimulation. Our results indicate that different immune elicitors produced distinct expression patterns in B. malayi, with changes in the expression of orthologs of well-characterized C. elegans immune pathways such as insulin, TGF-β, and p38 MAPK pathways, as well as C-type lectins and several stress-response genes.

中文翻译：

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寄生线虫马来虫中天然免疫基因的表征。

丝虫线虫Brugia malayi是淋巴丝虫病的病原体之一，淋巴丝虫病是一种被忽视的热带病，影响全世界1.2亿人。现有驱虫药的有效性有限以及疫苗的缺乏促使人们对布鲁吉亚与其专性细菌内共生菌Wolbachia之间的相互作用进行了广泛的研究。最近的研究表明，Wolbachia能够操纵其线虫宿主的免疫力，但对丝虫线虫的免疫系统知之甚少。因此，阐明了马来芽孢杆菌免疫系统的潜在机制。可能有助于理解共生关系的维持方式，并有助于确定新的药物靶标。为了表征参与主要遗传途径马来丝虫免疫，我们露出成年雌性蠕虫两种细菌裂解物（大肠杆菌和解淀粉芽孢杆菌），双链RNA和双链DNA。我们在两个不同的时间点对暴露于每种免疫引发剂的蠕虫进行了转录组测序。进行了未经处理和免疫攻击的蠕虫的基因表达分析，以表征与每种类型的免疫刺激相关的基因表达模式。我们的结果表明，不同的免疫引发剂在马来西亚芽孢杆菌中产生了不同的表达模式。，随着成熟的线虫免疫途径（如胰岛素，TGF-β和p38 MAPK途径）以及C型凝集素和一些应激反应基因的直系同源基因表达的变化。