Comparative proteomics analysis of the egg, sparganum, and adult stages of Spirometra mansoni

Abstract Background The plerocercoid larvae of Spirometra mansoni (S. mansoni) can invade the human body, causing a severe parasitic zoonotic disease known as sparganosis. Methods To gain insights into the developmental process of S. mansoni, it is crucial to comprehend the specific gene and protein expressions that allow the parasite to adapt to environmental changes between intermediate and definitive hosts. In this study, we employed tandem mass tag (TMT) analysis to compare proteomic changes among three developmental stages of S. mansoni: the egg, sparganum, and adult stages. Results We identified significant differential expression in a total of 1730 proteins in the sparganum compared to the egg groups and 1308 proteins in the adult compared to the sparganum groups. The functional annotation of these differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) unveiled pronounced metabolic disparities among these developmental stages. The sparganum stage exhibited overexpression of proteins primarily linked to migration and immune evasion, which underpins its potent immune escape mechanism and robust invasion capabilities. In contrast, the adult stage displayed an upregulation of proteins associated with functions related to protein biosynthesis, including translation, peptide biosynthetic processes, amide biosynthetic processes, and peptide metabolic processes. Conclusions These findings highlight new insights into the proteomic changes across S. mansoni developmental stages, potentially offering valuable targets for diagnosis and therapy.