Trichinella spiralis: Knockdown of gamma interferon inducible lysosomal thiol reductase (GILT) results in the reduction of worm burden

Trichinella spiralis is mammalian skeletal muscles parasite which may cause trichinellosis in animals and humans. Gamma interferon inducible lysosomal thiol reductase (GILT) is a widespread superfamily which plays key role in processing and presentation of MHC class II restricted antigen by catalyzing disulfide bond reduction. There are no reports about GILT in T. spiralis. In present study, GILT from T. spiralis (Tsp-GILT) was cloned, analyzed by multiple-sequence alignment, and predicted by 3D structure model. Recombinant Tsp-GILT (about 46 kDa) was efficiently expressed in Escherichia coli and thiol reductase activity suggested that in acidic environment the addition of a reducing agent is needed. Soaking method was used to knockdown expression of Tsp-GILT using small interference RNA (siRNA). Immunofluorescence assay confirmed the transformation of siRNA into muscle larva (ML) and new born larva (NBL). Quantitative real time-PCR (QRT-PCR) analysis revealed that transcription level of Tsp-GILT mRNA can be up-regulated by stimulation of mouse IFN-γ and down-regulated by siRNA2 in vitro. NBLs soaked with siRNA2 showed 32.3% reduction in the generation of MLs. MLs soaked with siRNA2 showed 26.2% reduction in the next generation of MLs, but no significant effect was observed on adult worms or NBLs. These findings concluded that GILT may play important roles in the development of T. spiralis parasite.