Blood Fluke Exploitation of Innate-Adaptive Immune Interactions to Facilitate Parasite Development

Schistosoma trematodes are parasitic blood flukes of mammals that develop in the portal system vasculature and cause significant morbidity and mortality in humans. It was previously shown that the development of Schistosoma mansoni is dependent on signals from host CD4 T cells. Our goal was to elucidate the mechanisms of CD4 T cell facilitation of schistosome development and to evaluate the conservation of this developmental mechanismin other medically important Schistosoma.