# Three isoforms of Brugia malayi daf-16 activate a reporter gene in cultured HepG2 cells

## TL;DR

This study shows that three versions of a gene in a parasitic worm activate a reporter gene in human liver cells, suggesting a similar role to a known gene in another worm.

## Contribution

The discovery that three isoforms of B. malayi daf-16 activate a reporter gene in HepG2 cells is novel.

## Key findings

- All three B. malayi daf-16 isoforms activated a luciferase reporter gene in HepG2 cells.
- Bma-DAF-16a showed lower activation ability compared to Bma-DAF-16b and Bma-DAF-16c.

## Abstract

We hypothesize that infective stage molting in the parasitic nematode

Brugia malayi

is regulated by an ortholog of the

Caenorhabditis elegans
daf-16

gene, similar to the role of

daf-16

in dauer formation and recovery. We confirmed the gene structure of three isoforms of
B. malayi daf-16 (Bma-daf-16)
and generated cell culture expression constructs for each. In luciferase assays using transfected HepG2 cells, all three isoforms activated a luciferase reporter gene regulated by six
DAF-16
binding sites, although
Bma-
DAF-16a showed lower activation ability than
Bma-
DAF-16b and
Bma-
DAF-16c. These results support our hypothesis that
Bma-daf-16
functions similarly to

C. elegans
daf-16

.