Cryptosporidiosis is an obligate intracellular pathogen causing diarrhea. Merozoite egress is essential for infection to spread between host cells. However, the mechanisms of egress have yet to be defined. We hypothesized that Cyclic GMP-Dependent Protein Kinase G (PKG) may be involved in Cryptosporidium egress. In this study, Cryptosporidium parvum PKG was silenced by using antisense RNA sequences. PKG-silencing significantly inhibited egress of merozoites from infected HCT-8 cells into the supernatant and led to retention of intracellular forms within the host cells. This data identifies PKG as a key mediator of merozoite egress, a key step in the parasite lifecycle.

隐孢子虫病是引起腹泻的专性细胞内病原体。裂殖子的流出对于感染在宿主细胞之间传播至关重要。但是，出口的机制尚未确定。我们假设，环状GMP依赖性蛋白激酶G（PKG）可能参与隐孢子虫的出口。在这项研究中，使用反义RNA序列使小隐孢子虫PKG沉默。PKG沉默显着抑制裂殖子从被感染的HCT-8细胞进入上清液，并导致细胞内形式保留在宿主细胞内。该数据确定PKG是裂殖子出口的关键介质，是寄生虫生命周期的关键步骤。