Hsp70 May Be a Molecular Regulator of Schistosome Host Invasion.

ABSTRACT: Schistosomiasis is a debilitating disease that affects over 240 million people worldwide and is considered the most important neglected tropical disease following malaria. Free-swimming freshwater cercariae, one of the six morphologically distinct schistosome life stages, infect humans by directly penetrating through the skin. Cercariae identify and seek the host by sensing chemicals released from human skin. When they reach the host, they burrow into the skin with the help of proteases and other contents released from their acetabular glands and transform into schistosomula, the subsequent larval worm stage upon skin infection. Relative to host invasion, studies have primarily focused on the nature of the acetabular gland secretions, immune response of the host upon exposure to cercariae,

SUBMITTER: Ishida K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5017621 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature