Korean J Parasitol.  2014 Apr;52(2):163-168.

Sequence Analysis and Molecular Characterization of Wnt4 Gene in Metacestodes of Taenia solium

• Hou J
• Luo X
• Wang S
• Yin C
• Zhang S
• Zhu X
• Dou Y
• Cai X

Abstract

Wnt proteins are a family of secreted glycoproteins that are evolutionarily conserved and considered to be involved in extensive developmental processes in metazoan organisms. The characterization of wnt genes may improve understanding the parasite's development. In the present study, a wnt4 gene encoding 491amino acids was amplified from cDNA of metacestodes of Taenia solium using reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR). Bioinformatics tools were used for sequence analysis. The conserved domain of the wnt gene family was predicted. The expression profile of Wnt4 was investigated using real-time PCR. Wnt4 expression was found to be dramatically increased in scolex evaginated cysticerci when compared to invaginated cysticerci. In situ hybridization showed that wnt4 gene was distributed in the posterior end of the worm along the primary body axis in evaginated cysticerci. These findings indicated that wnt4 may take part in the process of cysticerci evagination and play a role in scolex/bladder development of cysticerci of T. solium.

Keyword

Taenia solium; wnt4; expression profile; localization

MeSH Terms

Animals
Base Sequence
Cysticercosis/pathology
Cysticercus/enzymology/*genetics
DNA, Helminth/*genetics
Gene Expression Regulation
Humans
In Situ Hybridization
Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction
Sequence Analysis, DNA
Sus scrofa
Swine
Swine Diseases
Taenia solium/embryology/enzymology/*genetics
Wnt4 Protein/*genetics
DNA, Helminth
Wnt4 Protein