PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Ramon M. Eichenberger AU - Md Hasanuzzaman Talukder AU - Matthew A. Field AU - Phurpa Wangchuk AU - Paul Giacomin AU - Alex Loukas AU - Javier Sotillo TI - Characterisation of <em>Trichuris muris</em> secreted proteins and extracellular vesicles provides new insights into host-parasite communication AID - 10.1101/128629 DP - 2017 Jan 01 TA - bioRxiv PG - 128629 4099 - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2017/04/19/128629.short 4100 - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2017/04/19/128629.full AB - Whipworms are parasitic nematodes that live in the gut of more than 500 million people worldwide. Due to the difficulty in obtaining parasite material, the mouse whipworm Trichuris muris has been extensively used as a model to study human whipworm infections. These nematodes secrete a multitude of compounds that interact with host tissues where they orchestrate a parasitic existence. Herein we provide the first comprehensive characterisation of the excretory/secretory products of T. muris. We identify 148 proteins secreted by T. muris and show for the first time that the mouse whipworm secretes exosome-like extracellular vesicles (EVs) that can interact with host cells. We use an Optiprep® gradient to purify the EVs, highlighting the suitability of this method for purifying EVs secreted by a parasitic nematode. We also characterise the proteomic and genomic content of the EVs, identifying &gt;100 proteins, 56 miRNAs (22 novel) and 475 full-length mRNA transcripts mapping to T. muris gene models. Many of the miRNAs putatively mapped to mouse genes involved in regulation of inflammation, implying a role in parasite-driven immunomodulation. In addition, for the first time to our knowledge, we use colonic organoids to demonstrate the internalisation of parasite EVs by host cells. Understanding how parasites interact with their host is crucial to develop new control measures. This first characterisation of the proteins and EVs secreted by T. muris provides important information on whipworm-host communication and forms the basis for future studies.