Short communicationProteomic analysis of Eimeria acervulina sporozoite proteins interaction with duodenal epithelial cells by shotgun LC-MS/MS

•The proteins of chicken duodenal epithelial cells cultured with soluble proteins of E. acervulina sporozoite were analyzed by Western blot.•Total 85 proteins of E. acervulina were identified from Eimeria protein database by using shotgun LC-MS/MS and MASCOT engine searches.•Functional analysis of E. acervulina proteins binding to chicken duodenal epithelial cells was performed.•Several novel proteins were related to the process of host cell invasion or modulation of the host celluar functions.

Although it has been known for many years that Eimeria acervulina (E. acervulina) initiates infection by invading the duodenal epithelial cells of chicken, the key protein molecules and the mechanisms of the parasite in invading are unknow. In this study, we found that 85 proteins of E. acervulina could bind with the chicken duodenal epithelial cells from Eimeria protein database. Among them, sixteen were identified only in Eimeria spp. correlation with invasion and evasion and 69 proteins were found in Eimeria spp. with more than 2 unique pep count. Nine out of the 16 proteins and 41 out of the 69 proteins were annotated according to Gene Ontology Annotation in terms of molecular function, biological process, and cellular localization. Most of the 9 annotated proteins occurred in binding, catalytic activity and cellular process whereas, 29 (70.73%) out of the 41 proteins had binding activity and 20 proteins (48.78%) had catalytic activity. The findings provided an insight into the interactive relationship between E. acervulina and host cells and will shed new lights on the understanding of molecular mechanisms of E. acervulina invasion and pathogenesis.

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