Authors

C Crosnier¹;  ¹ Department of Biology, University of York, UK

Discussion

Schistosomiasis is a major global health burden in terms of its incidence and socio-economic impact. Despite its importance, no licenced vaccine is available and schistosomiasis control in endemic populations mostly relies on mass-administration of praziquantel. To investigate the biology of the parasite, we have recently developed a library of 120 recombinant cell-surface and secreted Schistosoma mansoni proteins, which we produce in mammalian cells to try and preserve conformational epitopes. These full-length extracellular proteins show good immunoreactivity when exposed to sera from individuals living in endemic areas, and contain heat-labile epitopes. We have used this protein library in the context of controlled human infections to identify early serological markers of infection, and in vaccine challenge studies in a murine model of schistosomiasis. The prolonged survival of schistosomes into their human hosts involves multiple mechanisms of immune suppression and modulation. To identify protein:protein interactions involved in host immune regulation, we are currently using our recombinant S. mansoni protein collection to interrogate a unique library of over 700 human immune receptors. We hope this study will shed light on novel immunomodulatory mechanisms that will constitute new avenues in the development of a vaccine against schistosomiasis, and more broadly in the control of allergic and auto-immune responses.