Chitinase is stored and secreted from the inner body of microfilariae and has a role in exsheathment in the parasitic nematode Brugia malayi

Wu, Yang, Preston, G. and Bianco, Albert E. (2008) 'Chitinase is stored and secreted from the inner body of microfilariae and has a role in exsheathment in the parasitic nematode Brugia malayi'. Molecular and Biochemical Parasitology, Vol 161, Issue 1, pp. 55-62.

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Abstract

Chitinase expression in microfilariae of the parasitic nematode Brugia malayi (B. malayi, Bm) is coincidental with the onset of their infectivity to mosquitoes. An antibody raised to Onchocerca volvulus (O. volvulus, Ov) infective-stage larval chitinase (Ov-CHI-1) was specifically reactive against B. malayi microfilarial chitinase and was used to study the localization of chitinase in B. malayi during microfilarial development and transmission to the insect vector. Immuno-electron microscopy (IEM) was used to demonstrate that the chitinase was confined to the inner body of the microfilariae and furthermore that chitinase was only present in sheathed microfilarial species, although the inner body is present in all species Observation using the IEM implicates two distinct routes of chitinase secretion from the inner body, via either the pharyngeal thread, or during transmission of the microfilariae to the vector, contained in vesicle-like structures. Many morphological studies have described the structure of the inner body, but no function has been assigned to it as of yet. Although it has been commented that the cells surrounding the inner body and pharyngeal thread are those destined to become the intestine and pharynx and that the inner body represents a store of material. Our studies suggest that chitinase is one such product stored in the inner body and that it is secreted during the exsheathment of the microfilaria in the mosquito. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Item Type:	Article
Subjects:	QX Parasitology > Helminths. Annelida > QX 301 Filarioidea QX Parasitology > Insects. Other Parasites > QX 650 Insect vectors WC Communicable Diseases > Tropical and Parasitic Diseases > WC 880 Filariasis and related conditions (General)
Digital Object Identifer (DOI):	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molbiopara.2008.06.007
Depositing User:	Mary Creegan
Date Deposited:	23 Aug 2010 13:33
Last Modified:	20 Nov 2024 14:51
URI:	https://archive.lstmed.ac.uk/id/eprint/664

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