Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 4, 2026
05:30
Cercarial Transformation and in vitro Cultivation of Schistosoma mansoni Schistosomules
Published on: August 16, 2011
Fucosyltransferases in Schistosoma mansoni development
E T Marques1, Y Ichikawa, M Strand
1Department of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences and Department of Biological Chemistry, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 725 North Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA.
Glycobiology
|April 26, 2001
Summary
Schistosome parasites show high fucosyltransferase activity in eggs, with specific enzymes modifying various oligosaccharides. A novel iminosugar inhibitor effectively blocked a key fucosylated antigen linked to disease pathogenesis.
Area of Science:
- Biochemistry
- Parasitology
- Glycobiology
Background:
- Fucose is abundant in Schistosoma mansoni glycoconjugates, with diverse linkage types identified.
- Fucosyltransferases play a crucial role in synthesizing these fucosylated structures.
Purpose of the Study:
- To quantify fucosyltransferase activities across different developmental stages of S. mansoni.
- To characterize the substrate specificity of schistosome fucosyltransferases.
- To evaluate the inhibitory potential of fucose-type iminosugars against schistosome fucosyltransferases.
Main Methods:
- Assays utilized fluorophore-assisted carbohydrate electrophoresis.
- Radioactive fucose incorporation from GDP-\[(14)C\-fucose] was detected.
- Substrate specificity was assessed using structurally defined oligosaccharide acceptors.
Main Results:
- Egg extracts exhibited 50-fold higher total fucosyltransferase activity compared to cercaria and adult worms.
- Identified fucosyltransferases acting on type-2, type-1, and lactose-based oligosaccharides, including multifucosylated products.
- A novel 1-N-iminosugar demonstrated 4-6 fold greater inhibitory potency than deoxyfuconojirimycin in vitro and blocked a pathogenic fucosylated epitope in vivo.
Conclusions:
- Fucosyltransferase activity is significantly elevated in S. mansoni eggs.
- Specific fucosyltransferases involved in parasite glycoconjugate synthesis have been characterized.
- A novel iminosugar shows promise as a therapeutic agent by inhibiting a key fucosylated antigen involved in schistosomiasis pathogenesis.
Related Concept Videos
00:58Symbiosis
Symbiotic relationships are long-term, close interactions between individuals of different species that affect the distribution and abundance of those species. When a relationship is beneficial to both species, this is called mutualism. When the relationship is beneficial to one species but neither beneficial nor harmful to the other species, this is called commensalism. When one organism is harmed to benefit another, the relationship is known as parasitism. These types of relationships often...
01:24Oligosaccharide Assembly
Protein glycosylation starts in the ER lumen and continues in the Golgi apparatus. Glycosyltransferases catalyze the addition of sugar molecules or glycosylation of proteins. Usually, these enzymes add sugars to the hydroxyl groups of selected serine or threonine residues to form O-linked glycans or the amino groups of asparagine residues to form N-linked glycans. Different positions on the same polypeptide chain can contain differently linked glycans.
Multiple sugar molecules that may or may...
Multiple sugar molecules that may or may...
01:29Malaria
Malaria pathogenesis in humans reflects a delicate interplay between parasite biology and host response. Clinical illness reflects a host’s immune response to the parasite’s asexual replication cycle, which is often asymptomatic in individuals with partial immunity. From the parasite's perspective, transmission between mosquito and human with minimal host pathology is evolutionarily advantageous. Among the six Plasmodium species infecting humans, P. falciparum and P. vivax dominate in global...