Neglected Deceivers To most invaders of our bodies, the sight of white blood cells (WBC) – the soldiers of our immune system – is bad news. However, despite having no limbs, the parasitic worm that causes the tropical disease, schistosomiasis, welcomes them with open arms. This is because only by piggy-backing on the immune response can the worm’s eggs pass from the host’s blood into the gut. From there they can be excreted and go on to infect other victims. Scientists have discovered that to get close to immune system activity, eggs gather in regions containing tubular pathways along which WBCs travel. In fact, eight weeks after infection (right image), these vessels (shown in red) are actually larger and more numerous than in animals naïve to the disease. By tricking the host’s own body to lend a hand to the worm, schistosomiasis, which damages internal organs, has already infected over 200 million people worldwide. Written by Jan Piotrowski — Adrian Mountford University of York, UK Originally published under a Creative Commons Attribution license Published in PLOS Pathogens 8(12): e1003063
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Neglected Deceivers

To most invaders of our bodies, the sight of white blood cells (WBC) – the soldiers of our immune system – is bad news. However, despite having no limbs, the parasitic worm that causes the tropical disease, schistosomiasis, welcomes them with open arms. This is because only by piggy-backing on the immune response can the worm’s eggs pass from the host’s blood into the gut. From there they can be excreted and go on to infect other victims. Scientists have discovered that to get close to immune system activity, eggs gather in regions containing tubular pathways along which WBCs travel. In fact, eight weeks after infection (right image), these vessels (shown in red) are actually larger and more numerous than in animals naïve to the disease. By tricking the host’s own body to lend a hand to the worm, schistosomiasis, which damages internal organs, has already infected over 200 million people worldwide.

Written by Jan Piotrowski

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Source: bpod.mrc.ac.uk

Sucker Punch It‘s the stuff of horror films…tiny larvae burrow through your skin, mature into worms, then use their suckers (pictured) to attach to the walls of your veins where they mate and begin producing thousands of eggs every day. These eggs are carried in the blood, eventually reaching the intestine. When they exit in faeces they are ready to infect new hosts. This is happening in the 250 million people worldwide who have schistosomiasis (also known as bilharzia) – a chronic disease caused by the parasitic flatworm Schistosoma. Although rarely deadly it causes unpleasant side effects and, if left untreated, leads to organ damage. There are lots of different strains of the Schistosoma worm. Researchers have found that the less dangerous ones have abnormal suckers, perhaps affecting their ability to attach to veins. This discovery could help in the development of better drugs or vaccines to treat and prevent flatworm infection. Written by Sarah McLusky — Jiaojiao Lin Shanghai Veterinary Research Institute, China Originally published under Creative Commons (CC-BY 2.0) Published in PLoS ONE 7(10): e47660
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Sucker Punch

It‘s the stuff of horror films…tiny larvae burrow through your skin, mature into worms, then use their suckers (pictured) to attach to the walls of your veins where they mate and begin producing thousands of eggs every day. These eggs are carried in the blood, eventually reaching the intestine. When they exit in faeces they are ready to infect new hosts. This is happening in the 250 million people worldwide who have schistosomiasis (also known as bilharzia) – a chronic disease caused by the parasitic flatworm Schistosoma. Although rarely deadly it causes unpleasant side effects and, if left untreated, leads to organ damage. There are lots of different strains of the Schistosoma worm. Researchers have found that the less dangerous ones have abnormal suckers, perhaps affecting their ability to attach to veins. This discovery could help in the development of better drugs or vaccines to treat and prevent flatworm infection.

Written by Sarah McLusky

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Source: bpod.mrc.ac.uk

Worms that Turned It may seem odd, but we have a lot in common with the worms in this picture. Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) are studied worldwide because they share many biological processes with humans. Yet one of their biggest differences - the fact that C.elegans are transparent - allows their inner-workings to be more easily explored under a microscope. Each of these worms has been genetically engineered to produce fluorescent proteins – a green protein highlights the worm’s intestines whilst a red-coloured one highlights the throat. C. elegans like to wriggle about and huddle together making the body parts of different worms in the left hand image difficult to distinguish. The image on the right shows the results of a computer algorithm, which used knowledge of the worms’ anatomy to virtually untangle the worms, making their similarities easier to spot. A handy trick to have when studying hundreds of worms at a time. Written by John Ankers — Carolina Wählby Broad Institute of Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard, USA. Published in Nature Methods 9: 714–716
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Worms that Turned

It may seem odd, but we have a lot in common with the worms in this picture. Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) are studied worldwide because they share many biological processes with humans. Yet one of their biggest differences - the fact that C.elegans are transparent - allows their inner-workings to be more easily explored under a microscope. Each of these worms has been genetically engineered to produce fluorescent proteins – a green protein highlights the worm’s intestines whilst a red-coloured one highlights the throat. C. elegans like to wriggle about and huddle together making the body parts of different worms in the left hand image difficult to distinguish. The image on the right shows the results of a computer algorithm, which used knowledge of the worms’ anatomy to virtually untangle the worms, making their similarities easier to spot. A handy trick to have when studying hundreds of worms at a time.

Written by John Ankers

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Source: bpod.mrc.ac.uk