Echinococcus multilocularis protoscoleces enhance glycolysis to promote M2 Macrophages through PI3K/Akt/mTOR Signaling Pathway

• Published in: Pathogens and global health Vol. 117; no. 4; pp. 409 - 416
• Main Authors: Zhang, Tao, Zhang, Yaogang, Yang, Zihan, Jiang, Yuan, Sun, Li, Huang, Dengliang, Tian, Meiyuan, Shen, Yinhong, Deng, Jun, Hou, Jing, Ma, Yanyan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Taylor & Francis 19.05.2023
• Subjects: Animals; Echinococcus multilocularis; Echinococcus multilocularis - metabolism; Glycolysis; Humans; macrophage polarization; Macrophages - metabolism; Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases - metabolism; PI3K/Akt/mTOR; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt - metabolism; protoscoleces; Signal Transduction; TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases - metabolism; Echinococcus multilocularis; macrophage polarization; PI3K/Akt/mTOR; glycolysis; protoscoleces
• ISSN: 2047-7724; 2047-7732
• DOI: 10.1080/20477724.2022.2104055

Alveolar Echinococcosis (AE) is a zoonotic parasitic disease caused by Echinococcus multilocularis, but its pathogenesis remains unclear. The primary objective of this study is to explore whether Echinococcus multilocularis protoscoleces (PSCs) regulate macrophage polarization and glucose metabolism by PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway. We found that large numbers of CD68 + macrophages gathered in close liver issue from the lesion in AE patients. PSCs preferentially differentiated into M2 macrophages and the expressions of HK1, PFKL, PKM2, PI3K, Akt, p-Akt, mTOR and p-mTOR increased. The above results show that Echinococcus multilocularis protoscoleces enhance glycolysis to promote M2 macrophages through PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway.