Profiling excretory/secretory proteins of Trichinella spiralis muscle larvae by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and mass spectrometry.

Infection of mammalian skeletal muscle with the intracellular parasite Trichinella spiralis results in profound alterations in the host cell and a realignment of host cell gene expression. The role of parasite excretory/secretory (E/S) products in mediating these effects is unknown, largely due to the difficulty in identifying and assigning function to individual proteins. In this study, we have used two-dimensional electrophoresis to analyse the profile of muscle larva excreted/secreted proteins and have coupled this to protein identification using MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry.

Analysis of differentially expressed parasite genes and proteins using transcriptomics and proteomics.

At any particular point in time, the full complement of transcribed RNAs and relevant proteins of a cell are known as the transcriptome and proteome, respectively. The composition of these two populations changes throughout the life cycle of a parasite or in response to environmental factors, such as drug treatments. Comparing the changes in the composition of the transcriptome and proteome between different life-cycle stages or in the same stage but under different conditions can be of particular interest, as it can allow the identification of potentially important differentially expressed genes and proteins.