Mass spectrometry-based analysis of proteome and lipidome reveals liver metabolic reprogramming induced by Schistosoma mansoni infection

Abstract text

Introduction

Schistosomiasis is a neglected tropical disease estimated to affect at least 236 million people from 78 countries. However, the underlying mechanisms of intestinal and hepatic schistosomiasis caused by the species Schistosoma mansoni are complex and still not fully elucidated. Mass spectrometry (MS) as an analytical technique is becoming increasingly important in bioscience, quickly analyzing the molecular composition of a sample, helping to determine the chemical composition and addressing complex biological problems.

Objectives

We investigated the hepatic proteome and lipidome composition of S. mansoni infected hamsters. We aim to uncover differentially regulated hepatic constituents in the context of S. mansoni infection to identify characteristically altered key molecules involved in hepatic metabolism modulation.

Materials & Methods

We applied MS-based accurate quantitative proteomic and lipidomic analysis to define molecular pathways involved in hepatic schistosomal infection. We also subjected liver tissue of infected hamsters to high-resolution AP-SMALDI mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) to visualize the lipid distribution in tissue sections with high lateral resolution.

Results

The disease provoked enormous alterations in the expression of liver proteomes and lipidomes. In the infected livers, the regulated molecules are involved in various biological functions such as immune response, cytoskeleton reorganization, apoptotic signaling, energy-generating, and a broad range of biosynthetic/metabolic processes. We also characterized several markers specific to the infection by AP-SMALDI MSI and exhibited their distribution in the tissue sections.

Conclusion

The mass spectrometric analysis of the liver samples indicates a characteristic regulation of the hepatic metabolism during schistosomiasis. Our findings expand the knowledge about biological pathways that are regulated in the liver upon S. mansoni infection and furthermore provide information that may also serve for diagnostic purposes. In summary, the combination of MS techniques used in our study demonstrates the potential of this combined approach to enlarge our understanding of the complex pathologies caused by host-parasite interactions.