Human tumor necrosis factor alpha affects the egg-laying dynamics and glucose metabolism of Schistosoma mansoni adult worms in vitro.

Several studies have described the effects of human tumor necrosis factor alpha (hTNF-α) on Schistosoma mansoni. hTNF-α affects the worm's development, metabolism, egg-laying, gene expression and protein phosphorylation. The available data on the influence of hTNF-α on egg-laying in S.

The evolution of TNF signaling in platyhelminths suggests the cooptation of TNF receptor in the host-parasite interplay.

Background: The TNF signaling pathway is involved in the regulation of many cellular processes (such as apoptosis and cell proliferation). Previous reports indicated the effect of human TNF-α on metabolism, physiology, gene expression and protein phosphorylation of the human parasite Schistosoma mansoni and suggested that its TNF receptor was responsible for this response. The lack of an endogenous TNF ligand reinforced the idea of the use of an exogenous ligand, but also opens the possibility that the receptor actually binds a non-canonical ligand, as observed for NGFRs.