Schistosome Transgenesis: The Long Road to Success.

Biology (Basel)

Rural Health Research Institute, Charles Sturt University, Orange, NSW 2800, Australia.

Published: January 2024

As research on parasitic helminths has entered the post-genomic era, research efforts have turned to deciphering the function of genes in the public databases of genome sequences. It is hoped that, by understanding the role of parasite genes in maintaining their parasitic lifestyle, critical insights can be gained to develop new intervention and control strategies. Methods to manipulate and transform parasitic worms are now developed to a point where it has become possible to gain a comprehensive understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying host-parasite interplay, and here, we summarise and discuss the advances that have been made in schistosome transgenesis over the past 25 years. The ability to genetically manipulate schistosomes holds promise in finding new ways to control schistosomiasis, which ultimately may lead to the eradication of this debilitating disease.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10813141PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/biology13010048DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

schistosome transgenesis
8
transgenesis long
4
long road
4
road success
4
success parasitic
4
parasitic helminths
4
helminths entered
4
entered post-genomic
4
post-genomic era
4
era efforts
4

Similar Publications

Schistosome Transgenesis: The Long Road to Success.

Biology (Basel)

January 2024

Rural Health Research Institute, Charles Sturt University, Orange, NSW 2800, Australia.

As research on parasitic helminths has entered the post-genomic era, research efforts have turned to deciphering the function of genes in the public databases of genome sequences. It is hoped that, by understanding the role of parasite genes in maintaining their parasitic lifestyle, critical insights can be gained to develop new intervention and control strategies. Methods to manipulate and transform parasitic worms are now developed to a point where it has become possible to gain a comprehensive understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying host-parasite interplay, and here, we summarise and discuss the advances that have been made in schistosome transgenesis over the past 25 years.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Programming schistosomes - a crisper approach to transgenesis.

Trends Parasitol

November 2023

Schistosomiasis Laboratory, Rural Health Research Institute, Charles Sturt University, Orange, NSW, Australia. Electronic address:

Ittiprasert and colleagues identified genomic safe harbour (GSH) sites in Schistosoma mansoni using computational methods and inserted a transgene into one of the sites through clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/Cas9-assisted homology-directed repair. This study outlines a promising strategy for functional genomics to study this parasite that causes a debilitating and neglected tropical disease.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Hit-and-Run Epigenetic Editing for Vectors of Snail-Borne Parasitic Diseases.

Front Cell Dev Biol

February 2022

IHPE, Univ Perpignan Via Domitia, CNRS, Ifremer, Univ Montpellier, Perpignan, France.

Snail-borne parasitic diseases represent an important challenge to human and animal health. Control strategies that target the intermediate snail host has proved very effective. Epigenetic mechanisms are involved in developmental processes and therefore play a fundamental role in developmental variation.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

At least 250 million people worldwide suffer from schistosomiasis, caused by worms. Genome sequences for several species are available, including a high-quality annotated reference for . There is a pressing need to develop a reliable functional toolkit to translate these data into new biological insights and targets for intervention.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Functional analysis of vasa/PL10-like genes in the ovary of Schistosoma mansoni.

Mol Biochem Parasitol

March 2020

Department of Microbiology, Immunology & Tropical Medicine, and Research Center for Neglected Diseases of Poverty, School of Medicine & Health Sciences, The George Washington University, Washington, DC 20037 USA. Electronic address:

The RNA helicase Vasa plays a pivotal role in the development of the germ line. To decipher the functional roles of vasa/PL10-like genes in the human blood fluke Schistosoma mansoni, we performed RNA interference followed by the analysis of the ovary in the adult female. Double-stranded RNA targeting the schistosome vasa-like gene Smvlg1 reduced the volume of the ovary.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!