Proteomic Analysis of Hemocytes During Encapsulation of Sporocysts.

Circulating hemocytes of the snail , a major intermediate host for the blood fluke , represent the primary immune effector cells comprising the host's internal defense system. Within hours of miracidial entry into resistant strains, hemocytes infiltrate around developing sporocysts forming multi-layered cellular capsules that results in larval death, typically within 24-48 h post-infection. Using an model of hemocyte-sporocyst encapsulation that recapitulates events, we conducted a comparative proteomic analysis on the responses of hemocytes from inbred strains during the encapsulation of primary sporocysts.

Corrigendum: Whole genome analysis of a schistosomiasis-transmitting freshwater snail.

This corrects the article DOI: 10.1038/ncomms15451.

Proteomic analysis of Biomphalaria glabrata plasma proteins with binding affinity to those expressed by early developing larval Schistosoma mansoni.

Interactions between early developing Schistosoma mansoni larval stages and the hemolymph of its snail intermediate host represent the first molecular encounter with the snail's immune system. To gain a more comprehensive understanding of this early parasite-host interaction, biotinylated sporocyst tegumental membrane (Mem) proteins and larval transformation proteins (LTP) were affixed to streptavidin-agarose beads and used as affinity matrices to enrich for larval-reactive plasma proteins from susceptible (NMRI) and resistant (BS-90) strains of the snail Biomphalaria glabrata. Nano-LC/MS-MS proteomic analyses of isolated plasma proteins revealed a diverse array of 94 immune-and nonimmune-related plasma proteins.

The Biomphalaria glabrata DNA methylation machinery displays spatial tissue expression, is differentially active in distinct snail populations and is modulated by interactions with Schistosoma mansoni.

Background: The debilitating human disease schistosomiasis is caused by infection with schistosome parasites that maintain a complex lifecycle alternating between definitive (human) and intermediate (snail) hosts. While much is known about how the definitive host responds to schistosome infection, there is comparably less information available describing the snail's response to infection.

Methodology/principle Findings: Here, using information recently revealed by sequencing of the Biomphalaria glabrata intermediate host genome, we provide evidence that the predicted core snail DNA methylation machinery components are associated with both intra-species reproduction processes and inter-species interactions.

Whole genome analysis of a schistosomiasis-transmitting freshwater snail.

Biomphalaria snails are instrumental in transmission of the human blood fluke Schistosoma mansoni. With the World Health Organization's goal to eliminate schistosomiasis as a global health problem by 2025, there is now renewed emphasis on snail control. Here, we characterize the genome of Biomphalaria glabrata, a lophotrochozoan protostome, and provide timely and important information on snail biology.

H+ channels in embryonic Biomphalaria glabrata cell membranes: Putative roles in snail host-schistosome interactions.

The human blood fluke Schistosoma mansoni causes intestinal schistosomiasis, a widespread neglected tropical disease. Infection of freshwater snails Biomphalaria spp. is an essential step in the transmission of S.