Journal
EMBO REPORTS
Volume 21, Issue 1, Pages -Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.15252/embr.201947882
Keywords
extracellular vesicle; miRNA; Schistosoma; Th cells
Categories
Funding
- Office of the Chief Scientist, Israeli Ministry of Industry (Kamin program) [52698]
- Israel Science Foundation (I-CORE program) [41/11]
- Benoziyo Endowment Fund for the Advancement of Science
- Jeanne and Joseph Nissim Foundation for Life Sciences Research
- Samuel M. Soref and Helene K. Soref Foundation
- European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program [757743]
- Israel Science Foundation (ISF) [619/16, 119034]
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During the chronic stage of Schistosoma infection, the female lays fertile eggs, triggering a strong anti-parasitic type 2 helper T-cell (Th2) immune response. It is unclear how this Th2 response gradually declines even though the worms live for years and continue to produce eggs. Here, we show that Schistosoma mansoni downregulates Th2 differentiation in an antigen-presenting cell-independent manner, by modulating the Th2-specific transcriptional program. Adult schistosomes secrete miRNA-harboring extracellular vesicles that are internalized by Th cells in vitro. Schistosomal miRNAs are found also in T helper cells isolated from Peyer's patches and mesenteric lymph nodes of infected mice. In T helper cells, the schistosomal miR-10 targets MAP3K7 and consequently downmodulates NF-kappa B activity, a critical transcription factor for Th2 differentiation and function. Our results explain, at least partially, how schistosomes tune down the Th2 response, and provide further insight into the reciprocal geographic distribution between high prevalence of parasitic infections and immune disorders such as allergy. Furthermore, this worm-host crosstalk mechanism can be harnessed to develop diagnostic and therapeutic approaches for human schistosomiasis and Th2-associated diseases.
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