TGF-beta signaling controls embryo development in the parasitic flatworm Schistosoma mansoni.

ABSTRACT: Over 200 million people have, and another 600 million are at risk of contracting, schistosomiasis, one of the major neglected tropical diseases. Transmission of this infection, which is caused by helminth parasites of the genus Schistosoma, depends upon the release of parasite eggs from the human host. However, approximately 50% of eggs produced by schistosomes fail to reach the external environment, but instead become trapped in host tissues where pathological changes caused by the immune responses to secreted egg antigens precipitate disease. Despite the central importance of egg production in transmission and disease, relatively little is understood of the molecular processes underlying the development of this key life stage in schistosomes. Here, we describe a novel parasite-encoded TG

SUBMITTER: Freitas TC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1847691 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature