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. 2025 Jan 25;18(1):27.
doi: 10.1186/s13071-024-06654-2.

The developmental lipidome of Nippostrongylus brasiliensis

Tao Wang  1 , Michael G Leeming  2 , Nicholas A Williamson  2 , Tiffany Bouchery  3 , Rory Doolan  3 , Graham Le Gros  4 , Gavin E Reid  5   6   7 , Nicola L Harris  8 , Robin B Gasser  9
Affiliations

The developmental lipidome of Nippostrongylus brasiliensis

Tao Wang et al. Parasit Vectors. .

Abstract

Background: Nippostrongylus brasiliensis-a nematode of rodents-is commonly used as a model to study the immunobiology of parasitic nematodes. It is a member of the Strongylida-a large order of socioeconomically important parasitic nematodes of animals. Lipids are known to play essential roles in nematode biology, influencing cellular membranes, energy storage and/or signalling.

Methods: The present investigation provides a comprehensive, untargeted lipidomic analysis of four developmental stages/sexes (i.e. egg, L3, adult female and adult male stages) of N. brasiliensis utilising liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry.

Results: We identified 464 lipid species representing 18 lipid classes and revealed distinct stage-specific changes in lipid composition throughout nematode development. Triacylglycerols (TGs) dominated the lipid profile in the egg stage, suggesting a key role for them in energy storage at this early developmental stage. As N. brasiliensis develops, there was a conspicuous transition toward membrane-associated lipids, including glycerophospholipids (e.g. PE and PC) and ether-linked lipids, particularly in adult stages, indicating a shift toward host adaptation and membrane stabilisation.

Conclusions: We provide a comprehensive insight into the lipid composition and abundance of key free-living and parasitic stages of N. brasiliensis. This study provides lipidomic resources to underpin the detailed exploration of lipid biology in this model parasitic nematode.

Keywords: Nippostrongylus brasiliensis; Adaptation; Gastrointestinal nematode; Lipidome; Lipids; Mass spectrometry; Rodent.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: The animal ethics approval for sample collection was obtained from Monash University (permit no. E/1843/2018/M). Consent for publication: Not applicable. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Presence and numbers of identified lipids in the egg, third larval (L3) and female (AF) and male adult (AM) stages. Connected dots show the shared lipid species between or among developmental stages/sexes, and the total number of lipid species in a particular stage/sex is shown in the bar size
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Principal component analysis of the developmental lipidome of Nippostrongylus brasiliensis representing egg; third larval (L3); female (AF) and male adult (AM) stages
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Quantification changes of lipids overall, as well as the glycerolipid (GL), glycerophospholipid (GP) and sphingolipid (SL) categories and the proportions of these categories in different developmental stages/sexes of Nippostrongylus brasiliensis. Four developmental stages/sexes include egg, third larval (L3); female (AF) and male (AM) adult stages (x-axis). Statistical analysis was performed by ANOVA (only significant results with ****P < 0.0001; details are provided in Additional file 2: Table S3). Error bars indicate standard deviation (four replicates)
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Quantitative changes of saturated and ether-linked lipid species in different developmental stages/sexes of Nippostrongylus brasiliensis. Four developmental stages/sexes include egg, third larval (L3); female (AF) and male (AM) adult stages. Statistical analysis was performed by ANOVA (only significant results with ****P < 0.0001; details are provided in Additional file 2: Table S3). Error bars indicate standard deviation (four replicates)
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Quantitative changes of TG, PC, PE and Cer lipid classes in different developmental stages/sexes of Nippostrongylus brasiliensis. Four developmental stages/sexes include egg, third-stage (L3) larvae; female (AF) and male (AM) adult stages. Statistical analysis was performed by ANOVA (only significant results with ****P < 0.0001; details are provided in Additional file 2: Table S3). Error bars indicate standard deviation (four replicates)
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