#schistosoma

[snowytiger]

woe, blood fluke guy be upon ye

this is maverick!! he's well, a blood fluke and he's like very friendly and happy go-lucky kinda like spongebob! he also dreams of finding love one day, people can be very mean to him due to rhe fact he's a worm but he doesn't let that stop him! (at least most of the time)

heres some extra doodles...can you tell i love this guy yet

[secretlysweetmonsters]

Let me tell you something

the endless flow of time for little woims

[iftitah]

i finally asked him the if i were a worm would you love me question THE REPLY HAS ME DUMBSTRUCK pls

[hopkinrx]

Schistosomiasis: A Comprehensive Guide to Symptoms, Prevention, and Treatment 1

IntroductionWhat is Schistosomiasis?Types of Schistosomiasis Schistosoma mansoni Schistosoma haematobium Schistosoma japonicumTransmission of SchistosomiasisLife Cycle of Schistosoma ParasitesSymptoms and Complications of SchistosomiasisRisk FactorsDiagnosis of SchistosomiasisTreatment of SchistosomiasisGeographic DistributionPrevention and Control MeasuresPublic Health EffortsThe Impact of…

[hellsitegenetics]

alright, if I was an animal, what animal d’you think I would be. SERIOUS ANSWERS ONLY.

A rooster. A rat. A... a rat. A rat, a rat. You’d be a rat. Jerma, you’re a rat. you’d be a rat... I think you’d be a rat.

(Gayly) I think I’d be a wolf. I think so too... I would be a wolf-lion-hybrid-mix. King of the junjle- junjle but still social, and with it and ferocious

String identified:

agt, a a aa, at aa ’ t . A .

A t. A at. A… a at. A at, a at. ’ a at. a, ’ a at. ’ a at… t ’ a at.

(Ga) t ’ a . t t… a ---. g t - t t ca, a t t a c

Closest match: Schistosoma margrebowiei genome assembly, chromosome: 3 Common name: Blood-fluke

[allthebrazilianpolitics]

Brazil develops the first vaccine against schistosomiasis, the disease of swollen bellies

Brazil is a few steps away from manufacturing the world’s first vaccine against schistosomiasis, a disease caused by worms that causes large swollen bellies in children and adults in the poorest regions of the southern hemisphere, especially in Africa. The discovery is the work of a team from the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, a public body based in Rio de Janeiro.

Preclinical tests of the vaccine called Shistovac (sm14) in laboratory animals were able to reduce Schistosoma masnoni infections in mice and rabbits by more than 90%. In humans, the vaccine was shown to be safe, with the main side effect being pain in the area of application. Miriam Tendler, the researcher who has been leading the vaccine team for years, tells EL PAÍS that the results “have been excellent from phase one.”

At the moment, the researchers are finishing the final phase of human testing, and working so that the World Health Organization (WHO) grants the vaccine the necessary certificate. After testing the vaccine on 300 people in Brazil, it will now be tested on another 2,000 in Senegal. If all goes well, the vaccine will become the first in the world to protect against a worm. Vaccine studies began in the 1980s, when the aim was to protect cattle from parasitic infections. After decades of lack of interest from industry in developed countries and a few failed attempts, the vaccine could begin to be marketed by the end of 2025 or the beginning of 2026, says Tendler.

Continue reading.

[demonstars]

if dnf were parasites they would be schistosoma, the species in eternal copulation.

like, the female is forever living inside the male and when you separate them they die shortly after

sorry im currently studying for my parasitology quiz but dnf

THIS IS SO FUCKING REAL. SO CLOSE THAT THE LINES BLUR.

[nuadox]

Innovative molecular biology technique allows for discovery of novel targets for candidate vaccines against schistosomiasis

- By Luciana Constantino , Agência FAPESP -

Researchers in Brazil have used an innovative technique in molecular biology to identify targets for candidate vaccines against Schistosoma mansoni, the parasite that causes schistosomiasis.

Considered one of the world’s 17 neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), schistosomiasis affects some 200 million people in 74 countries, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Six million are estimated to be infected in Brazil, mainly in the Northeast region and Minas Gerais state.

The scientists used phage display, the study of protein interactions using bacteriophages, viruses that infect bacteria, to screen 99.6% of 119,747 DNA sequences encoding the proteins known to be expressed across all life-cycle stages of the parasite, achieving comprehensive coverage of its proteome.

The results of the study are reported in an article in NPJ Vaccines, an open-access journal published by the Springer Nature group. 

They follow on from those of a previous study that revealed the mechanism whereby the Rhesus macaque Macaca mulatta naturally develops a lasting immune response against schistosomiasis by inhibiting certain of the parasite’s genes so that it cannot multiply in the host organism. This immune response leads to self-cure after first contact with S. mansoni and enables the animal to react faster to a second infection (read more at: agencia.fapesp.br/37688).

“Phage display had never been deployed for this purpose in research on parasitic diseases, which normally involves preselection of a few targets for testing of candidate vaccines. In this study, we screened 12,000 proteins of S. mansoni at the same time to identify which ones were targeted by the macaque’s antibodies, both after initial infection and reinfection and after reinfection and self-cure, a key innovation. Both the technique and the model for the study were innovative,” said Murilo Sena Amaral, a researcher at Butantan Institute’s Laboratory of Cell Cycle.

Amaral is the penultimate author of the article. The last author, as principal investigator for the study, is Sergio Verjovski-Almeida, also a researcher at Butantan Institute and a professor at the University of São Paulo’s Institute of Chemistry (IQ-USP).

Both are supported by FAPESP (15/06366-2 and 20/01917-9), which has also funded scholarships for other researchers in the group (18/18117-5, 19/02305-0 and 16/10046-6), including a PhD scholarship for first author Daisy Woellner Santos.

Methodology

The researchers investigated the immune response of ten macaques infected by S. mansoni during the stages of self-cure and resistance to reinfection using a recently developed technique called peptide library-based phage immunoprecipitation sequencing (PhIP-Seq). They constructed a phage display library that comprised 119,747 DNA sequences encoding 11,641 known proteins from S. mansoni in all stages of its life cycle. The library was incubated with antibodies collected from rhesus macaques in a previous study at different points during the process of self-cure and resistance to reinfection. The aim was to isolate and identify specific targets of the animal’s immune response to the parasite.

The study involved rhesus macaques, which naturally develop a lasting immune response to the disease (photo: researcher’s archive)

Library screening with antibodies from the early phase of parasite infection identified significantly enriched epitopes of parasite extracellular proteins known to be expressed in the host’s digestive tract, shifting toward intracellular proteins during the late phase of parasite clearance (released owing to its death). Epitope refers to the specific target against which an individual antibody binds. When an antibody binds to a protein, it bonds not to the entire protein but to a segment known as an epitope.

The enriched peptides were analyzed with bioinformatics tools to identify potential candidates for vaccines. The most promising candidates were tested in a pilot vaccination assay, in which mice were immunized with a selected pool of PhIP-Seq-enriched phage-displayed peptides. The result was a significant reduction of worm burden in the immunized mice.

“You often hear the argument that a schistosomiasis vaccine isn’t feasible, but our discoveries have revealed a great deal of the immune response and opened up promising prospects for the development of an effective vaccine. We worked with the 12,000 proteins key to all stages of the parasite’s life cycle and succeeded in identifying the most reactive targets,” Verjovski-Almeida told Agência FAPESP. The technique can be used for other types of parasite, he added.

In an article published in May 2023, the group described their discovery of a way to “separate” male and female parasites so as to prevent reproduction and egg release. Male-female pairing, with the female living inside the male, is essential to their survival. Without it, they die. In the study, the researchers showed that male-female separation could be obtained by silencing specific long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs), which are therefore a promising target for treatment of the disease (read more at: agencia.fapesp.br/41908). 

Female inside male of Schistosoma mansoni (photo: researcher’s archive)

How the worm works

Schistosomiasis is a parasitic disease associated with poor hygiene and a lack of basic sanitation. It is transmitted when an infected person excretes feces containing schistosome eggs into the environment. The eggs hatch in freshwater, releasing larvae that infect snails. The snails are intermediate hosts, while humans are definitive hosts.

After four weeks, the larvae leave the snail as cercariae, the free-swimming larval stage. When humans come into contact with contaminated water, they acquire the disease via active skin penetration by cercariae.

In the human bloodstream, the cercariae progress to the schistosomule stage, eventually becoming adult worms that lodge in the veins of the intestines. The first symptoms of the disease appear two to six weeks after infection.

The disease is diagnosed by laboratory analysis of feces. Simple cases can be treated by a single dose of praziquantel, a drug discovered in the 1970s and distributed in Brazil by the national health system (Sistema Único de Saúde, SUS). However, it does not assure continuous protection. Patients taking it can be reinfected, and there are reports of parasite drug resistance.

“The next step is to develop a suitable vaccine formulation containing adjuvants and a novel mechanism for delivery of these antigens so that they produce better protection in the host. We have some targets with higher response levels,” Verjovski-Amaral explained. Butantan Institute has applied for a patent on the group’s discoveries linked to possible vaccine targets.

Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (FIOCRUZ), an arm of the Brazilian Health Ministry, has been working for years on what could be the world’s first schistosomiasis vaccine. Called Schistovac, it is in the testing stage and contains a modified version of the Sm14 protein found in S. mansoni. The protein normally plays a key role in trafficking fatty acids, which are essential to the parasite’s cellular functions. The modified version is designed to prevent proliferation.

The article “Schistosoma mansoni vaccine candidates identified by unbiased phage display screening in self-cured rhesus macaques” is at: www.nature.com/articles/s41541-023-00803-x.  

This text was originally published by FAPESP Agency according to Creative Commons license CC-BY-NC-ND. Read the original here.

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Header image: This micrograph reveals four Schistosoma mansoni trematodes, a pair (left), a female (center), and a male (right). Credit: CDC/Wikimedia Commons. Ed note: A slight blue filter has been applied.

Read Also

Test detects co-infection by novel species of parasite in severe cases of visceral leishmaniasis

[soul-of-rei]

"the schistosoma is the most romantic parasite bc the male has a fold in its body where the female lodges itself into!!!!"

thats great man but youre asking me to identify the body parts and i honestly cant tell anymore where the worms are seperated

[arnouss]

Eyes of a lover.

When two souls meet everything becomes different, life now has new meanings. Together their eyes see beautified images of normal things! Birds become singing after their annoying voice, trees become swaying after their aggressive fight, sea become hugging the shore after their repulsive hits, lone wolves live the second state.

As brilliant Juno said, it's all about contrast between coloured mind and that shaded to grey. Eyes of a lover is the same as the normal eyes anatomically, but physiologically they're totally different having enhanced functions. Thus a lover's eyes are accompanied with coloured mind!

Feel the rain.

Rain is life for every living creature, for a lone wolf rain is a flood of memories that hit their soul, for a lover rain is the need of his/her soulmate, for a lover contained between her lover's arms -like a couple of adult schistosoma- they have more energy than bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Without control, this energy may be destructive by the couple with damage can be described in stages like stages of death, that's enough for now and changes of "spirit leave" will be discussed later.

[rnomics]

Genes, Vol. 15, Pages 1165: Schistosoma japonicum sja-let-7 Inhibits the Growth of Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cells via Cross-Species Regulation of Col1α2

Liver fibrosis, a critical precursor to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), results from chronic liver injury and significantly contributes to HCC progression. Schistosomiasis, a neglected tropical disease, is known to cause liver fibrosis; however, this process can be modulated by schistosome-derived #miRNAs. Previous studies from our laboratory have demonstrated that Schistosoma japonicum extracellular vesicles (EVs) deliver sja-let-7 to hepatic stellate cells, leading to the inhibition of Col1α2 expression and alleviation of liver fibrosis. Given the well-documented antifibrotic and antiproliferative properties of the let-7 #miRNA family, this study aims to preliminarily investigate the effects of the sja-let-7/Col1α2 axis on BALB/c mice and HCC cell line SNU387, providing a basis for the potential application of parasite-derived molecules in HCC therapy. In the present study, schistosome-induced fibrosis datasets were analyzed to identify the role of Col1α2 in extracellular matrix organization. Pan-#cancer analysis revealed that Col1α2 is upregulated in various #cancers, including HCC, with significant associations with immune cell infiltration and clinical parameters, highlighting its diagnostic importance. Functional assays demonstrated that transfection with sja-let-7 mimics significantly reduced Col1α2 expression, inhibited HCC cell proliferation, migration, and colony formation. These findings suggest that sja-let-7, by targeting Col1α2, has the potential to serve as a therapeutic agent in HCC treatment. This study indicates the pivotal role of Col1α2 in liver fibrosis and HCC, and the promising therapeutic application of helminth-derived #miRNAs. https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4425/15/9/1165?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=tumblr

[popgenpapers]

Evidence of a Slower-Z effect in Schistosoma japonicum

http://dlvr.it/T99VQB

[moleculardepot]

Thioredoxin Glutathione Reductase (Schistosoma mansoni)

Thioredoxin Glutathione Reductase (Schistosoma mansoni) Catalog number: B2016748 Lot number: Batch Dependent Expiration Date: Batch dependent Amount: 50 µg Molecular Weight or Concentration: N/A Supplied as: Solution Applications: a molecular tool for various biochemical applications Storage: −20°C Keywords: TGR Grade: Biotechnology grade. All products are highly pure. All solutions are made with…

[hellsitegenetics]

Ahh... free at last. O Gabriel, now dawns thy reckoning, and thy gore shall GLISTEN before the temples of Man! Creature of Steel, my gratitude upon thee for my freedom. But the crimes thy kind have commited against humanity are NOT forgotten! And thy punishment... is DEATH.

String identified: A… at at. Ga, a t cg, a t g a GT t t a! Cat t, gatt t . t t c t a ct agat at a T gtt! A t t… AT.

Closest match: Schistosoma turkestanicum genome assembly, chromosome: Z Common name: Blood fluke

[evoldir]

Fwd: Postdoc: OregonStateU.GenomicsHostParasite

Begin forwarded message: > From: evoldir@evol.biology.mcmaster.ca > Subject: Postdoc: OregonStateU.GenomicsHostParasite > Date: 26 April 2024 at 05:42:54 BST > To: rdmpage@gmail.com > > > Genomics of host-parasite interactions in the snail-schistosome system > > Postdoctoral Scholar position in Dept. Integrative Biology, Oregon State > University, Corvallis, Oregon (must be within 5 years of PhD) > > Michael Blouin’s lab is seeking an individual with skills in genomics to > help identify genes in the snail, Biomphalaria glabrata, at which allelic > variation controls resistance to infection by the trematode parasite, > Schistosoma mansoni.  Candidate will bioinformatically characterize > genomic regions that associate with resistance.  Candidate will also > help analyze genomic mapping and gene expression data to find additional > genomic regions. > > Additional, preferred qualifications include: > Demonstrated ability to write manuscripts > Background/interest in host-parasite relationships > Some background in Statistical Genetics (e.g. gene mapping, gene > co-expression network analysis). > > Department: Integrative Biology > Location: Corvallis, Oregon > Appointment: 100% > Basis: 12 months > Start Date: June 1, 2024 > Notes on Start Date: open until filled. > Notes on End Date: one year from start date with possible renewal for > 2nd year. > > Salary will follow current NIH NRSA scale > (https://ift.tt/uqhizKe). > Candidate must be within 5 years of obtaining their PhD to be a postdoc > scholar. Information about postdoctoral scholars at OSU can be found > at https://ift.tt/9wvsxMF. > > We foster work-life balance and opportunities for professional > development. Corvallis is a safe, highly-educated and progressive > community, with many restaurants, coffee shops and parks.  There is easy > access to many outdoor activities from the coast to the Mountains. > > For additional information, contact Mike Blouin at > blouinm@oregonstate.edu.  To apply, send to Mike a cover letter that > describes your interests and background, a CV, and contact information > for three references. > > Michael Blouin > https://ift.tt/DxoEAkT > > > > > "Blouin, Michael"