Hsp70 May Be a Molecular Regulator of Schistosome Host Invasion

Schistosomiasis is a debilitating disease that affects over 240 million people worldwide and is considered the most important neglected tropical disease following malaria. Free-swimming freshwater cercariae, one of the six morphologically distinct schistosome life stages, infect humans by directly penetrating through the skin. Cercariae identify and seek the host by sensing chemicals released from human skin. When they reach the host, they burrow into the skin with the help of proteases and other contents released from their acetabular glands and transform into schistosomula, the subsequent larval worm stage upon skin infection. Relative to host invasion, studies have primarily focused on the nature of the acetabular gland secretions, immune response of the host upon exposure to cercariae, and cercaria-schistosomulum transformation methods. However, the molecular signaling pathways involved from host-seeking through the decision to penetrate skin are not well understood. We recently observed that heat shock factor 1 (Hsf1) is localized to the acetabular glands of infectious schistosome cercariae, prompting us to investigate a potential role for heat shock proteins (HSPs) in cercarial invasion. In this study, we report that cercarial invasion behavior, similar to the behavior of cercariae exposed to human skin lipid, is regulated through an Hsp70-dependent process, which we show by using chemical agents that target Hsp70. The observation that biologically active protein activity modulators can elicit a direct and clear behavioral change in parasitic schistosome larvae is itself interesting and has not been previously observed. This finding suggests a novel role for Hsp70 to act as a switch in the cercaria-schistosomulum transformation, and it allows us to begin elucidating the pathways associated with cercarial host invasion. In addition, because the Hsp70 protein and its structure/function is highly conserved, the model that Hsp70 acts as a behavior transitional switch could be relevant to other parasites that also undergo an invasion process and can apply more broadly to other organisms during morphological transitions. Finally, it points to a new function for HSPs in parasite/host interactions.