Molecular negotiations at the host-parasite interface

寄生是动物最常见的生活方式，但宿主几乎抵抗所有寄生虫物种；每个宿主都有一组相对特定的寄生虫。宿主防御系统为绝大多数寄生虫物种提供了不适宜居住的条件。寄生虫和宿主之间的分子谈判使寄生虫得以成功，这是生命的一个基本方面：如何防止寄生以保存营养资源(在宿主方面)，以及如何逃避宿主防御以繁殖(在寄生虫方面)。在这场谈判中部署的分子知之甚少；我们的研究旨在更好地理解寄生虫如何克服宿主防御和篡夺宿主资源。我们使用基因组/蛋白质组的方法来鉴定丝虫寄生线虫--马来丝虫所分泌的蛋白质，结果表明，治疗丝虫病的主要药物伊维菌素能阻断这种寄生虫的蛋白质分泌。

Parasitism is the commonest life-style for animals, yet hosts resist almost all parasite species; each host has a set of relatively specific parasites. Host defense systems provide inhospitable conditions for the vast majority of parasite species. The molecular negotiations between parasite and host that enable parasite success underlie a fundamental aspect of life: how to prevent parasitism to conserve nutritional resources (on the part of the host) and how to evade host defenses to reproduce (on the part of the parasite). The molecules deployed in this negotiation are poorly understood; our research aims to develop a better understanding of how parasites overcome host defenses and usurp host resources. We used genomic/proteomic approaches to identify proteins secreted by a filarial parasitic nematode, Brugia malayi, and showed that the main drug for filariasis, ivermectin, blocks protein secretion by the parasite.