The large amount of schistosome eggs produced by mature female worms not only induce major pathological damage to the host but also lead to the transmission of schistosomiasis. Mature female schistosome worms need constant pairing contact with a male partner as male signaling is indispensable to female growth, development, and reproduction. The gynecophoral canal protein (GCP), a cell-surface glycoprotein, plays a potential role in the interaction between males and females and in stimulating female development and maturation. In this study, a yeast two-hybrid cDNA library of Schistosoma japonicum (Sj) parasites 18 days post-infection (dpi) was constructed; the Sjgcp gene was inserted into a pGBKT7-BD bait plasmid and used as a bait protein to screen for its molecular interactions using a yeast mating procedure. Twenty-four prey proteins that interacted with the SjGCP were selected after excluding false positives; the interactions between S.japonicum lethal giant larvae (SjLGL) and SjGCP, S.japonicum type V collagen (SjColV) and SjGCP, were verified by co-immunoprecipitation. The RNA interference against SjGCP, SjColV and SjGCP + SjColV led to severe underdevelopment of tegument in male worms and vitelline globules in female worms as well as reduced reproductive capacity of the females. Collectively, SjGCP and its interacting proteins may play pivotal roles in growth and development. The findings also suggested that SjGCP and its interacting protein partners might represent new candidate targets for drug development against schistosomiasis.

成熟雌虫产下的大量血吸虫卵不仅对宿主造成重大的病理损害，还导致血吸虫病的传播。成熟的雌性血吸虫需要与雄性伴侣不断配对接触，因为雄性信号对于雌性的生长、发育和繁殖是必不可少的。妇科管蛋白 (GCP) 是一种细胞表面糖蛋白，在雄性和雌性之间的相互作用以及刺激雌性发育和成熟方面发挥着潜在作用。本研究构建了日本血吸虫（ Sj）寄生虫感染后18天（dpi）的酵母双杂交cDNA文库；Sjgcp _基因被插入pGBKT7-BD诱饵质粒并用作诱饵蛋白，以使用酵母交配程序筛选其分子相互作用。在排除假阳性后，选择了与Sj GCP相互作用的 24 种猎物蛋白；通过免疫共沉淀验证了日本血吸虫致死巨型幼虫（Sj LGL）与Sj GCP、日本血吸虫V型胶原蛋白（Sj ColV）和Sj GCP之间的相互作用。对Sj GCP、Sj ColV 和Sj GCP +  Sj的 RNA 干扰ColV 导致雄性蠕虫的外皮和雌性蠕虫的卵黄球严重发育不全，以及雌性的生殖能力降低。总的来说，Sj GCP 及其相互作用的蛋白质可能在生长和发育中起关键作用。研究结果还表明，Sj GCP 及其相互作用的蛋白质伙伴可能代表了抗血吸虫病药物开发的新候选靶点。