2026-10-14T17:33:45Z https://api.figshare.com/v2/oai

oai:figshare.com:article/33959027 2026-09-21T18:00:48Z category_4 category_8 category_12 category_13 category_16 category_19 category_873 category_106 category_46 category_64 category_69 category_132 portal_5 item_type_3 month_year_09_2026

<p>Raw images.</p> Ru Zhang (431993) Yao Zhang (134381) Xin Zhuo Zhang (15222763) Pei Kun Cong (20598539) Jin Yi Wu (20598536) Shao Rong Long (8770949) Ruo Dan Liu (8770934) Jia Xu (111777) Jing Cui (28824) Zhong Quan Wang (7592999) Biochemistry Microbiology Cell Biology Genetics Physiology Pharmacology Chemical Sciences not elsewhere classified Science Policy Immunology Cancer Inorganic Chemistry Infectious Diseases western blotting analysis potential target molecule gut epithelium serves ), muc13 knockdown intestinal epithelial cells larva invasive assay trichinella spiralis </ mediated larval invasion muc13 receptor inhibitor rtsgal activated muc13 muc13 receptor spiralis </ larval invasion vitro </ mapk inhibitor including invasion 2 cells study investigated results showed pathway activation novel drugs mass spectrometry mapk pathway interacted specifically immune modulation gst pull derived galectins critical barrier confocal microscopy barrier functions also conducted 2 monolayers <div> <p>Background</p><p>Gut epithelium serves as a critical barrier against <i>Trichinella spiralis</i> larval invasion, parasite-derived galectins are involved in host–parasite interactions, including invasion and immune modulation. This study investigated the role of <i>T. spiralis</i> galectin (Tsgal) in gut epithelial barrier disruption and larval invasion.</p> <p>Methodology/principal findings</p><p>Recombinant Tsgal (rTsgal) was expressed <i>in vitro</i> and its interaction with intestinal epithelial cells (IEC) was ascertained using immunofluorescence test (IFT) and confocal microscopy. The rTsgal-specific binding IEC proteins were identified by GST pull-down, mass spectrometry (MS) and Co-immunoprecipitation (Co-IP) assay. Intestinal epithelial integrity damage induced by rTsgal was evaluated by IFT, qPCR and Western blotting analysis. The <i>in vitro</i> larva invasive assay was also conducted. The results showed that rTsgal bound and interacted specifically with MUC13 receptor in Caco-2 cells. rTsgal activated MUC13-ROCK2/MAPK pathway, reduced the expression of gut epithelial tight junctions (TJs; ZO-1, E-cad, Occludin and Claudin-1), increased gut epithelial permeability, disrupted gut epithelial integrity and barrier functions, thereby facilitated larva invasion of Caco-2 monolayers. Moreover, MUC13 receptor inhibitor (Cuc D), MUC13 knockdown of Caco-2 cells, ROCK2 inhibitor (KD025) and p38-MAPK inhibitor (SB203580) suppressed this pathway activation, restored gut epithelial integrity, and impeded larval invasion.</p> <p>Conclusions</p><p>Tsgal disrupted gut epithelial integrity and mediated larval invasion through binding to MUC13 receptor and activating ROCK2/MAPK pathway. Tsgal might be a potential target molecule for development of novel drugs and vaccines to block <i>T. spiralis</i> infection.</p></div> 2026-09-21T17:56:33Z Dataset Dataset 10.1371/journal.pntd.0014684.s001 https://figshare.com/articles/dataset/_p_Raw_images_p_/33959027 CC BY 4.0