Epigenetics on Schistosoma mansoni host-parasite relationship

• Grant number: 21/01885-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: January 01, 2022
• End date: December 31, 2022
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Parasitology - Helminthology of Parasites
• Principal Investigator: Fernanda Janku Cabral
• Grantee: Camila Fernandes Correia
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biologia (IB). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil

Abstract

In Brazil, schistosomes is a parasitic disease caused by the species Schistosoma mansoni, and is still considered a serious public health problem in Brazil and worldwide. Epigenetics is a current tool to uncover possible mechanisms of pathogenesis in various diseases, such as schistosomiasis. Epigenetic alterations can be inherited, which makes it possible to investigate the epigenetic control of gene expression during the life cycle of S. mansoni, besides allowing possible changes in the development of the parasite. Epigenetics in host-parasite interactions is important for analyzing how parasites develop strategies to manipulate host gene transcription and protein expression, which has already been performed for other intracellular parasites. The epigenetic approach is performed through the analysis of post-translational modifications, such as methylation of histones, which represents an important pathway to elucidate pathogenic mechanisms and therapeutic targets in parasitosis. The present study aims to evaluate the epigenetic influence in mice of the C57 BLACK/6 strain during Schistosoma mansoni infection, its effects on gene expression through the analysis of genes related to the immune response IL-4, IL-5, and IL-13 of the host. Initially, liver tissue will be extracted from infected and uninfected C57 BLACK/6 mice to perform chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) with H3K9ac, H3K9me3, and H3K27me3 mice, and then the analysis of the genes mentioned above will be performed using the qRT-PCR technique.