Unusual inheritance of a functional <i>cki</i> homolog in the human pathogen <i>Schistosoma mansoni</i>.

ABSTRACT: Schistosomes, parasitic flatworms responsible for the neglected tropical disease schistosomiasis, are protected by a skin-like tegument, and tegument maintenance is controlled by a schistosome ortholog (p53-1) of the tumor suppressor TP53. To understand p53-1 function, we characterized a schistosome cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor homolog (cki). Knockdown of cki resulted in hyperproliferation that, combined with p53-1 knockdown, yielded tumor-like growths, indicating that cki and p53-1 are tumor suppressors in Schistosoma mansoni. cki homologs are ubiquitous in parasitic flatworms but are absent from their free-living ancestors, suggesting that cki may have come from horizontal gene transfer. This suggests that the evo

SUBMITTER: Wendt GR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12693960 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature