Project description:Parasitic infections with the hookworms Ancylostoma ceylanicum and Necator americanus are a significant global health burden and current hookworm infection management approaches are limited by modest drug efficacy, costs, risk of reinfection and drug resistance. Subunit vaccines based on proteins excreted and secreted (ES) by hookworms that impart sufficient efficacy to reduce worm numbers and associated disease burden is a promising management strategy to overcome these limitations. However, existing studies on the ES proteome of hookworms have mainly described proteins derived from the adult life stage which may preclude the opportunity to target larvae-specific parasitic processes. In this project, we use high resolution mass spectrometry to identify and compare ES proteins from the L3 stage as well as the adult stage of N. americanus and A. ceylanicum respectively.
Project description:Transcriptional profiling of larval stage I - IV of Homarus americanus, for assessment of stage specific developmental gene expression. Individuals from each stage were gathered in July of 2009 and 2010. A reference design was used to permit comparison of all stages. Study aims included assessment of global gene expression of larval development of healthy larvae, and identifying novel molecular pathways involved in H. americanus development.
