The Developmental Phosphoproteome of Fasciola Gigantica by Shotgun

Abstract Background: Protein phosphorylation plays key roles in a variety of essential cellular processes. Fasciola gigantica is a tropical liver fluke causing hepatobiliary disease fascioliasis, leading to public health threats and heavy economic losses. Although the genome and protein kinases of F. gigantica provided novel insights to understand the molecular biology and etiology of this parasite, there is scant knowledge of protein phosphorylation events in F. gigantica. Results: In this study, we characterized the phosphoproteome of F. gigantica. A total of 1030 phosphopeptides and 1005 phosphorylation sites were identified in 635 F. gigantica phosphoproteins. The bioinformatic analyses and homologous comparisons of these phosphoproteins identified their features participating in cellular processes including metabolic regulation and signal transduction. Conclusions: To the best of our knowledge, this work performed the global phosphoproteomic analysis in F. gigantica, which provides a valuable resource to facilitate the development of novel interventions targets in F. gigantica and related nematodes in the future.