Schistosome esophageal gland factor MEG-8.2 drives host cell lysis and interacts with host immune proteins.

ABSTRACT: Schistosomes are blood flukes that ingest large amounts of host blood during their intra-mammalian stage. The ingested blood contains leukocytes that can be harmful, yet the parasites survive inside the host for decades, reflecting superb immune evasion mechanisms that remain poorly understood. Our previous work discovered that FoxA, a forkhead transcription factor, drives the production of the esophageal gland, an anterior digestive organ essential for degrading the ingested leukocytes and for in vivo survival. However, a comprehensive molecular makeup of the esophageal gland remains unclear. Importantly, which of the esophageal gland factors are responsible for degrading the ingested leukocytes, their mechanism of action, and how such a function relates to parasite survival and im

SUBMITTER: Yadav P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11601278 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature