Rapid induction of IgE responses to a worm cysteine protease during murine pre-patent schistosome infection

Background: During the pre-patent stage of infection, juvenile Schistosoma blood flukes co-opt signals from the adaptive immune system to facilitate parasite development, but the types of responses that are induced at this early stage of infection, and the parasite antigens they target, have not been characterized. Results: Through analysis of experimental pre-patent infections, we show that the S. mansoni cysteine protease SmCB1 is rapidly targeted by an antigen-specific IgE response. The induction of this response is independent of schistosome eggs as infection with male or female worms alone also induced SmCB1-specific IgE. We also show that the SmCB1-specific IgE response is dependent on cognate CD4(+) T cell help and IL-4, suggesting that prepatent Th2 responses provide T cell help for the SmCB1-specific IgE response. Finally, exposed human subjects also produced IgE against SmCB1. Conclusions: Our data demonstrate that, like eggs, schistosome worms also induce functional type 2 responses and that a parasite cysteine protease is an inducer of type 2 responses during the early stages of schistosome infection.Host-parasite interactio

Activation Route of the Schistosoma mansoni Cathepsin B1 Drug Target Structural Map with a Glycosaminoglycan Switch

SummaryCathepsin B1 (SmCB1) is a digestive protease of the parasitic blood fluke Schistosoma mansoni and a drug target for the treatment of schistosomiasis, a disease that afflicts over 200 million people. SmCB1 is synthesized as an inactive zymogen in which the N-terminal propeptide blocks the active site. We investigated the activation of the zymogen by which the propeptide is proteolytically removed and its regulation by sulfated polysaccharides (SPs). We determined crystal structures of three molecular forms of SmCB1 along the activation pathway: the zymogen, an activation intermediate with a partially cleaved propeptide, and the mature enzyme. We demonstrate that SPs are essential for the autocatalytic activation of SmCB1, as they interact with a specific heparin-binding domain in the propeptide. An alternative activation route is mediated by an S. mansoni asparaginyl endopeptidase (legumain) which is downregulated by SPs, indicating that SPs act as a molecular switch between both activation mechanisms