Cloning and characterization of an Echinococcus granulosus ecdysteroid hormone nuclear receptor HR3-like gene

Cystic echinococcosis is an important parasitic zoonosis caused by the dog tapeworm Echinococcus granulosus. Little is known about adult worm development at the molecular level. Transcription analysis showed that the E. granulosus hormone receptor 3-like (EgHR3) gene was expressed in protoscoleces and adult worms, indicating its role in early adult development. In this study, we cloned and characterized EgHR3 showing that its cDNA contains an open reading frame (ORF) of 1890 bp encoding a 629 amino acid protein, which has a DNA-binding domain (DBD) and a ligand-binding domain (LBD). Immunolocalization revealed the protein was localized in the parenchyma of protoscoleces and adult worms. Real-time PCR analysis showed that EgHR3 was expressed significantly more in adults than in other stages of development (p<0.01) and that its expression was especially high in the early stage of adult worm development induced by bile acids. EgHR3 siRNA silenced 69–78% of the level of transcription in protoscoleces, which resulted in killing 43.6–60.9% of protoscoleces after 10 days of cultivation in vitro. EgHR3 may play an essential role in early adult worm development and in maintaining adult biological processes and may represent a novel drug or vaccine target against echinococcosis.