Comparative analysis of the 14-3-3 gene and its expression in Echinococcus granulosus and Echinococcus multilocularis metacestodes.

It was suggested that the unlimited proliferative capacity of the Echinococcus multilocularis metacestode may be related to overproduction of the 14-3-3 protein. As is known, the proliferative capacities of E. granulosus and E. multilocularis metacestodes are very different. By comparing the expression levels of the 14-3-3 gene between in vitro-obtained E. granulosus and E. multilocularis metacestodes, we were able to provide experimental evidence of the potential relation between 14-3-3 over-expression and tumour-like growth in E. multilocularis metacestodes. RT-PCR and Northern blot experiments indicated that 14-3-3 expression level is about 4-fold higher in the E. multilocularis metacestode. This differential expression was confirmed both by immunoblotting and immunocytochemistry experiments, which allowed detection of the protein in the cyst wall from E. multilocularis but not in the cyst wall from E. granulosus. The alignment of the Echinococcus 14-3-3 cDNA sequence with known 14-3-3 isoforms from other organisms, grouped the parasite sequence into the tumour growth-related isoforms. The known relation between over-expression of some 14-3-3 isoforms and tumour-related processes, together with the present results, suggest that the Echinococcus 14-3-3 protein could be one of the molecules responsible for the differences between E. granulosus and E. multilocularis metacestode growth behaviour.