ABC transporters of Fasciola hepatica as putative drug targets

Background The liver fluke Fasciola hepatica is one of the most important parasites affecting animal health all over the world, causing the so called liver fluke disease (fascioliosis). Although infections of humans are rather rare in most western countries, several million people worldwide are infected by this trematode. Beside its threat to humans the infection of animal stock leads to large financial losses. As vaccinations against this parasite are not available yet, anthelmintic drugs, like triclabendazole, are the treatment of choice. During the last decades more and more flukes resistant to these drugs have been found. One possible mechanism for these resistances seems to be the expression of so called ABC transporters. Inhibitors of P-glycoprotein (ABCB1) can change the status of flukes from resistant to susceptible. Up to date little is known about proteins expressed by the fluke. In addition almost no information on the fluke’s genome is available. We therefore try to identify and characterize yet unknown proteins of the fluke to investigate their potentency as putative new drug targets.