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Small RNA s and extracellular vesicles in filarial nematodes: From nematode development to diagnostics
Author(s) -
Quintana J. F.,
Babayan S. A.,
Buck A. H.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
parasite immunology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.795
H-Index - 75
eISSN - 1365-3024
pISSN - 0141-9838
DOI - 10.1111/pim.12395
Subject(s) - biology , rna , nematode , extracellular vesicles , extracellular vesicle , host (biology) , extracellular , function (biology) , non coding rna , rna silencing , microrna , parasite hosting , microbiology and biotechnology , gene , rna interference , ecology , genetics , microvesicles , world wide web , computer science
Summary Parasitic nematodes have evolved sophisticated mechanisms to communicate with their hosts in order to survive and successfully establish an infection. The transfer of RNA within extracellular vesicles ( EV s) has recently been described as a mechanism that could contribute to this communication in filarial nematodes. It has been shown that these EV s are loaded with several types of RNA s, including micro RNA s, leading to the hypothesis that parasites could actively use these molecules to manipulate host gene expression and to the exciting prospect that these pathways could result in new diagnostic and therapeutic strategies. Here, we review the literature on the diverse RNA i pathways that operate in nematodes and more specifically our current knowledge of extracellular RNA (ex RNA ) and EV s derived from filarial nematodes in vitro and within their hosts. We further detail some of the issues and questions related to the capacity of RNA ‐mediated communication to function in parasite–host interactions and the ability of ex RNA to enable us to distinguish and detect different nematode parasites in their hosts.