INTRODUCTION ES-62, a phosphorylcholine (PC)-containing immunomodulator secreted by the parasitic worm Acanthocheilonema viteae, protects against nephritis in the MRL/Lpr mouse model of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). However, ES-62 is not suitable for development as a therapy and thus we have designed drug-like small molecule analogues (SMAs) based around its active PC-moiety. To provide p...

Parasite survival and host health may depend on the ability of the parasite to modulate the host immune response by the release of immunomodulatory molecules. Excretory-secretory (ES)-62, one such well-defined molecule, is a major secreted protein of the rodent filarial nematode Acanthocheilonema viteae, and has homologues in human filarial nematodes. Previously we have shown that ES-62 is excl...

Although exogeneous "danger" signals such as LPS can activate APC to produce a Th1 response, the nature of events initiating a Th2 response is controversial. We now show that pathogen-derived products have the capacity to induce bone marrow-derived dendritic cell cultures to acquire a phenotype that promotes the differentiation of naive CD4+ T cells toward either a Th1 or Th2 phenotype. Thus, L...

BASSON, P. A., McCULLY, R. M., DEVOS, V., YOUNG, E. & KRUGER, S. P., 1971. Some parasitic and other natural diseases of the African elephant in the Kruger National Park. Ondenlepoqrl}. vet. Res. 38 (4) 239-254 (197 1). Derailed descriptions are given of the lesions encountered at autopsy on a random selection of 32 free-living African elephants (Loxotknla afritaf/a (Blumenbach, 1797)1. Lymphoid...

The biosynthesis in vitro of phosphorylcholine oligosaccharides in Caenorhabditis elegans has been investigated. Here we show that extracts of C. elegans' microsomes transfer phosphorylcholine from L-alpha-dipalmitoyl phosphatidylcholine to hybrid and complex type N-linked oligosaccharides containing mannose residues disubstituted with N-acetylglucosamine. The reaction products are consistent w...

THE standard morphological descriptions of microfilarire tend to gloss over several very real difficulties in identification. Satisfactory staining of the dead organism sometimes seems impossible, measurement of distances along the organism (see, e.g., Belding, 1952) is often impractic'able because of its irregular disposition, and the tip of the tail, recognised as the site of certain distinct...

Filariasis in dogs is caused by several species of filariids. Because of importance of this infection in veterinary medicine and public health, it is necessary to carry out an epidemiological and cross sectional studies in various geographical areas and use of well-adapted diagnosis methods. In this study 205 capillary and whole blood samples were collected from doges in various counties of Eas...

Infection with the endosymbiotic bacteria Wolbachia is widespread in filarial nematodes. Previous studies have suggested concordance between the phylogeny of Wolbachia with that of their nematode hosts. However, there is only one published molecular phylogenetic study of filarial species, based on the 5S rRNA gene spacer. The phylogeny proposed by this study is partially incongruent with previo...

The possible involvement of transglutaminase-catalyzed reactions in survival of adult worms, microfilariae (mf), and infective larvae of the filarial parasite Brugia malayi was studied in vitro by using the specific pseudosubstrate monodansylcadaverine (MDC) and the active-site inhibitors cystamine or iodoacetamide. These inhibitors significantly inhibited parasite mobility in a dose-dependent ...