Functional studies will facilitate characterization of role and essentiality of newly available genome sequences of the human schistosomes, Schistosoma mansoni, S. japonicum and S. haematobium. To develop transgenesis as a functional approach for these pathogens, we previously demonstrated that pseudotyped murine leukemia virus (MLV) can transduce schistosomes leading to chromosomal integration...

Schistosoma mansoni and other Schistosoma sp. are multicellular parasitic helminths (worms) that infect humans and mammals worldwide. Infection by these parasites, which results in developmental maturation and sexual differentiation of the worms over a period of 5-6 weeks, induces antibodies to glycan antigens expressed in surface and secreted glycoproteins and glycolipids. There is growing int...

Abstract Schistosomes are parasitic flatworms causing one of the most prevalent infectious diseases from which millions people currently suffering. These parasites have high fecundity and their eggs both transmissible agents cause infection-associated pathology. Given its biomedical significance, schistosome germline has been a research focus for more than century. Nonetheless, molecular mechan...

Current knowledge of animal and zoonotic helminthiases in which effects of climate change have been detected is reviewed. Climate variables are able to affect the prevalence, intensity and geographical distribution of helminths, directly influencing free-living larval stages and indirectly influencing mainly invertebrate, but also vertebrate, hosts. The impact of climate change appears to be mo...

roteases, including cysteine-, serine-, threonine-, aspartate-, and metallo-proteases, are a group of enzymes that have the catalytic ability to hydrolyze or digest peptide bonds of proteins. Proteases play important roles in host invasion, hemoglobin degradation, transformation and immune invasion of schistosomes. The gut cathepsin B of all schistosomes including S. japonicum, S. mansoni and S...