PROTEOMICS ANALYSIS OF SCHISTOSOME HOST-INVASION AND METABOLISM

University Of California, San Francisco, San Francisco CA

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Abstract

This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. This project is focused on understanding the interaction between human and schistosoma proteins, with the aim of identifying drug targets and/or vaccine candidates for protection from schistosomiasis. Previous work on this project has been to analyze active secretory proteins from Schistosoma mansoni during initial host exposure to invasive larvae as a method for identifying functional proteins involved in invasion and host immune evasion. This work has expanded to analyze the the natural substrates for the proteases of invasive schistosome larvae in skin, where Schistosome cercariae are incubated with sections of human skin and products of degradation extracted. In a parallel track, the active proteases across multiple species including Schistosoma mansoni, Schistosoma japonicum and Schistosomatium douthitti were characterized for proteolytic classification and activity.