G protein-coupled receptor SmGPCR9 interacts with neuropeptides and controls spermatogenesis in Schistosoma mansoni

Schistosomiasis is a neglected tropical disease caused by parasitic flatworms of the genus Schistosoma, impacting hundreds of millions of people and animals globally. Disease pathology primarily originates from host immune responses to parasite eggs, which are produced only when female schistosomes are continuously paired with males. Past research focused on pairing-dependent female sexual maturation, while scarce data exist for the males reproductive biology. In this study, we characterized the G protein-coupled receptor Smgpcr9 (Smp_244240), an orphan Class A (Rhodopsin-like) GPCR with a testis-preferential and pairing-influenced expression profile in S. mansoni males. Previous bulk RNA-seq analyses of adult worms and their isolated gonads revealed that Smgpcr9 belongs to a subgroup of GPCR genes with abundant testis-preferential and pairing-influenced transcript levels in males but low and extremely low expression in unpaired and paired females, respectively. This male-/unpaired female-biased expression pattern mirrors that of neuropeptide (npp) genes of S. mansoni such as Smnpp26 and Smnpp41. In a deorphanization approach using yeast-two-hybrid analyses, GPCR internalization experiments, bioluminescence resonance energy transfer assays, and by modeling and docking analyses, we provide first evidence that both NPPs can interact with SmGPCR9. Furthermore, we optimized a GPCR RNAi approach and achieved efficient transcript knockdown (> 90%) enabling robust functional characterization of Smgpcr9. Following RNAi, physiological and morphological analyses revealed that SmGPCR9 regulates key aspects of male reproductive biology like testis morphology and spermatogenesis. Remarkably, ovary structure and egg production were also affected in paired females post RNAi. We observed similar phenotypes plus motility constraints and reduced stem-cell proliferation in both sexes upon RNAi of Smnpp26 and Smnpp41. In all cases, RNAi downstream analyses by RT-qPCR of marker genes substantiated the observed phenotypic effects. These results strongly indicate the importance of SmGPCR9, SmNPP26, and SmNPP41 for spermatogenesis and further physiological processes in male and female S. mansoni. Author SummaryResearch of the reproductive biology of schistosomes focused mainly on females so far, which upon pairing sexually mature to produce eggs that are important for the life cycle maintenance but also for the pathogenesis of schistosomiasis, the infectious disease caused by these parasites. We investigated a yet unknown G protein-coupled receptor, Smgpcr9, which showed a testis-preferential and pairing-influenced expression profile in Schistosoma mansoni males. To this end, we optimized an RNA interference (RNAi) approach for knockdown analysis, identified neuropeptides (NPPs) as potential ligands by different biochemical approaches and modeling and docking analyses, and we investigated the roles of SmGPCR9 and two interacting NPPs, SmNPP26 and SmNPP41, by physiological, microscopical, and molecular techniques. Our results strongly suggest that SmGPCR9 and both NPPs regulate spermatogenesis. Furthermore, we detected effects on ovary morphology, egg production, and stem-cell proliferation of paired females post RNAi. Taken together, we deorphanized SmGPCR9 and showed for the first time the essential role of a so far uncharacterized GPCR and two interacting neuropeptides for spermatogenesis. Our results shed first light on spermatogenesis regulatory processes controlled by GPCRs and neuropeptides in male S. mansoni and thus expand our understanding of the roles of GPCR-NPP signaling for schistosome reproductive biology.