Immunological genomics of Brugia malayi: filarial genes implicated in immune evasion and protective immunity
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Date
2001Author
Maizels, Rick
Blaxter, Mark
Scott, Alan
Metadata
Abstract
Filarial nematodes are metazoan parasites with genome
sizes of > 100 million base pairs, probably encoding
15 000-20 000 genes. Within this considerable gene
complement, it seems likely that filariae have evolved a
spectrum of immune evasion products which underpin their
ability to live for many years within the human host.
Moreover, no suitable vaccine currently exists for human
filarial diseases, and few markers have yet been established
for diagnostic use. In this review, we bring together
biochemical and immunological data on prominent filarial
proteins with the exciting new information provided by the
Filarial Genome Project's expressed sequence tag (EST)
database. In this discussion, we focus on those genes with
the highest immunological profile, such as inhibitors of host
enzymes, cytokine homologues and stage-specific surface
proteins, as well as products associated with the mosquitoborne
infective larva which offer the best opportunity for
an anti-filarial vaccine. These gene products provide a
fascinating glimpse of the molecular repertoire which
helminth parasites have evolved to manipulate and evade
the mammalian immune response.