| Title: | A male-derived nonribosomal peptide pheromone controls female schistosome development |
| Author(s): | Chen R; Wang J; Gradinaru I; Vu HS; Geboers S; Naidoo J; Ready JM; Williams NS; DeBerardinis RJ; Ross EM; Collins JJ; |
| Address: | "Department of Pharmacology, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX 75390, USA. Department of Pharmacology, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX 75390, USA; State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai 200438, People's Republic of China; Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Contemporary Anthropology, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai 200438, People's Republic of China. Children's Medical Center Research Institute, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX 75390, USA. Department of Biochemistry, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX 75390, USA. Children's Medical Center Research Institute, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX 75390, USA; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX 75390, USA. Department of Pharmacology, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX 75390, USA. Electronic address: jamesj.collins@utsouthwestern.edu" |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.cell.2022.03.017 |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 1097-4172 (Electronic) 0092-8674 (Print) 0092-8674 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "Schistosomes cause morbidity and death throughout the developing world due to the massive numbers of eggs female worms deposit into the blood of their host. Studies dating back to the 1920s show that female schistosomes rely on constant physical contact with a male worm both to become and remain sexually mature; however, the molecular details governing this process remain elusive. Here, we uncover a nonribosomal peptide synthetase that is induced in male worms upon pairing with a female and find that it is essential for the ability of male worms to stimulate female development. We demonstrate that this enzyme generates beta-alanyl-tryptamine that is released by paired male worms. Furthermore, synthetic beta-alanyl-tryptamine can replace male worms to stimulate female sexual development and egg laying. These data reveal that peptide-based pheromone signaling controls female schistosome sexual maturation, suggesting avenues for therapeutic intervention and uncovering a role for nonribosomal peptides as metazoan signaling molecules" |
| Keywords: | "Animals Female Male Peptide Biosynthesis, Nucleic Acid-Independent *Peptides *Pheromones Schistosoma/*growth & development Tryptamines Nrps nonribosomal peptide reproductive biology schistosomes;" |
| Notes: | "MedlineChen, Rui Wang, Jipeng Gradinaru, Irina Vu, Hieu S Geboers, Sophie Naidoo, Jacinth Ready, Joseph M Williams, Noelle S DeBerardinis, Ralph J Ross, Elliott M Collins, James J 3rd eng HHSN272201700014C/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/ R01 AI121037/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/ R01 AI150776/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/ R35 CA220449/CA/NCI NIH HHS/ Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't 2022/04/07 Cell. 2022 Apr 28; 185(9):1506-1520.e17. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2022.03.017. Epub 2022 Apr 5" |
