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Background: Throughout Asia, there is an unprecedented link between cholangiocarcinoma and infection with the liver fluke Opisthorchis viverrini. Multiple processes, including chronic inflammation and secretion of parasite proteins into the biliary epithelium, drive infection toward cancer. Until now, the mechanism and effects of parasite protein entry into cholangiocytes was unknown., Methods: Various microscopy techniques were used to identify O. viverrini extracellular vesicles (EVs) and their internalization by human cholangiocytes. Using mass spectrometry we characterized the EV proteome and associated changes in cholangiocytes after EV uptake, and we detected EV proteins in bile of infected hamsters and humans. Cholangiocyte proliferation and interleukin 6 (IL-6) secretion was measured to assess the impact of EV internalization., Results: EVs were identified in fluke culture medium and bile specimens from infected hosts. EVs internalized by cholangiocytes drove cell proliferation and IL-6 secretion and induced changes in protein expression associated with endocytosis, wound repair, and cancer. Antibodies to an O. viverrini tetraspanin blocked EV uptake and IL-6 secretion by cholangiocytes., Conclusions: This is the first time that EVs from a multicellular pathogen have been identified in host tissues. Our findings imply a role for O. viverrini EVs in pathogenesis and highlight an approach to vaccine development for this infectious cancer., (© The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Infectious Diseases Society of America.)

Liver fluke infection caused by Opisthorchis viverrini remains a major public health problem in many parts of Asia including Thailand, Lao PDR, Vietnam and Cambodia, where there is a strikingly high incidence of cholangiocarcinoma (CCA - hepatic cancer of the bile duct epithelium). Among other factors, uptake of O. viverrini excretory/secretory products (OvES) by biliary epithelial cells has been postulated to be responsible for chronic inflammation and proliferation of cholangiocytes, but the mechanisms by which cells internalise O. viverrini excretory/secretory products are still unknown. Herein we incubated normal human cholangiocytes (H69), human cholangiocarcinoma cells (KKU-100, KKU-M156) and human colon cancer (Caco-2) cells with O. viverrini excretory/secretory products and analysed the effects of different endocytic inhibitors to address the mechanism of cellular uptake of ES proteins. Opisthorchis viverrini excretory/secretory products was internalised preferentially by liver cell lines, and most efficiently/rapidly by H69 cells. There was no evidence for trafficking of ES proteins to cholangiocyte organelles, and most of the fluorescence was detected in the cytoplasm. Pretreatment with clathrin inhibitors significantly reduced the uptake of O. viverrini excretory/secretory products, particularly by H69 cells. Opisthorchis viverrini excretory/secretory products induced proliferation of liver cells (H69 and CCA lines) but not intestinal (Caco-2) cells, and proliferation was blocked using inhibitors of the classical endocytic pathways (clathrin and caveolae). Opisthorchis viverrini excretory/secretory products drove IL6 secretion by H69 cells but not Caco-2 cells, and cytokine secretion was significantly reduced by endocytosis inhibitors. This the first known study to address the endocytosis of helminth ES proteins by host epithelial cells and sheds light on the pathways by which this parasite causes one of the most devastating forms of cancer in south-eastern Asia., (Copyright © 2015 Australian Society for Parasitology Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Multistep processes likely underlie cholangiocarcinogenesis induced by chronic infection with the fish-borne liver fluke, Opisthorchis viverrini . One process appears to be cellular proliferation of the host bile duct epithelia driven by excretory–secretory (ES) products of this pathogen. Specifically, the secreted growth factor Ov -GRN-1, a liver fluke granulin, is a prominent component of ES and a known driver of hyper-proliferation of cultured human and mouse cells in vitro . We show potent hyper-proliferation of human cholangiocytes induced by low nanomolar levels of recombinant Ov -GRN-1 and similar growth produced by low microgram concentrations of ES products and soluble lysates of the adult worm. To further explore the influence of Ov -GRN-1 on the flukes and the host cells, expression of Ov-grn-1 was repressed using RNA interference. Expression of Ov-grn-1 was suppressed by 95% by day 3 and by ~100% by day 7. Co-culture of Ov-grn-1 suppressed flukes with human cholangiocyte (H-69) or human cholangiocarcinoma (KKU-M214) cell lines retarded cell hyper-proliferation by 25% and 92%, respectively. Intriguingly, flukes in which expression of Ov - grn-1 was repressed were less viable in culture, suggesting that Ov -GRN-1 is an essential growth factor for survival of the adult stage of O. viverrini , at least in vitro . To summarize, specific knock down of Ov-grn-1 reduced in vitro survival and capacity of ES products to drive host cell proliferation. These findings may help to contribute to a deeper understanding of liver fluke induced cholangiocarcinogenesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The association between liver fluke infection caused by Opisthorchis viverrini and cholangiocarcinoma (CCA — hepatic cancer of the bile duct epithelium) has been well established. Multiple mechanisms play a role in the development of CCA, but the excretory/secretory products released by O. viverrini ( Ov ES) represent the major interface between the parasite and its host, and their uptake by biliary epithelial cells has been suggested to be responsible for proliferation of cholangiocytes, the cells that line the biliary epithelium. Despite recent progress in the study of the molecular basis of O. viverrini –host interactions, little is known about the effects that Ov ES induces upon internalization by host cells. In the present study we incubated non-cancerous human cholangiocytes (H69) and human colon cancer (CaCo-2) cells with Ov ES and performed a time-course quantitative proteomic analysis on the cells to determine the early changes induced by the parasite. Different KEGG pathways were altered in H69 cells compared to Caco-2 cells: glycolysis/gluconeogenesis and protein processing in the endoplasmic reticulum. In addition, the Reactome pathway analysis showed a predominance of proteins involved in cellular pathways related to apoptosis and apoptotic execution phase in H69 cells after incubation with Ov ES. The present study provides the first proteomic analysis to address the molecular mechanisms by which Ov ES products interact with host cells, and Sheds light on the cellular processes involved in O. viverrini -induced CCA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]