Toxoplasma gondii: siRNA can mediate the suppression of adenosine kinase expression

Adenosine kinase (AK) is one of the most important enzymes in the Toxoplasma gondii purine salvage pathway. Three siRNAs specific to the AK gene were designed in the present study. At 24 h following electroporation, two of them (siRNA786 and siRNA1200) significantly reduced the mRNA level compared with mock electroporation (P < 0.05). The ability to incorporate [3H]-adenosine in the parasites electroporated with 4 μM siRNA786 or 4 μM siRNA1200 was decreased to 39 ± 11% and 39 ± 7% of the mock electroporation, respectively. At the 48th hour of electroporation, the enzyme’s activity was still significantly lower than that of mock electroporation. The data show the siRNAs transfected into cells can work efficiently to regulate gene expression in T. gondii. The application of siRNA in interrupting gene expression in T. gondii would be useful for elucidating gene function as a step toward development of anti-toxoplasmasis vaccines and therapeutic reagents.