@article{e07ed03ad85d4963b5e37188d665abcd,
title = "A rotifer-derived paralytic compound prevents transmission of schistosomiasis to a mammalian host",
abstract = "Schistosomes are parasitic flatworms that infect over 200 million people, causing the neglected tropical disease, schistosomiasis. A single drug, praziquantel, is used to treat schistosome infection. Limitations in mass drug administration programs and the emergence of schistosomiasis in nontropical areas indicate the need for new strategies to prevent infection. It has been known for several decades that rotifers colonizing the schistosome{\textquoteright}s snail intermediate host produce a water-soluble factor that paralyzes cercariae, the life cycle stage infecting humans. In spite of its potential for preventing infection, the nature of this factor has remained obscure. Here, we report the purification and chemical characterization of Schistosome Paralysis Factor (SPF), a novel tetracyclic alkaloid produced by the rotifer Rotaria rotatoria. We show that this compound paralyzes schistosome cercariae and prevents infection and does so more effectively than analogous compounds. This molecule provides new directions for understanding cercariae motility and new strategies for preventing schistosome infection.",
author = "Jiarong Gao and Ning Yang and Lewis, {Fred A.} and Peter Yau and Collins, {James J.} and Sweedler, {Jonathan V.} and Newmark, {Phillip A.}",
note = "Funding Information: This work was supported by: Howard Hughes Medical Institute (https://www.hhmi.org/): Investigator Award to PAN; International Student Research Fellowship to JG; National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Stroke (https://www. ninds.nih.gov/): R01 NS031609 to JVS; National Institute on Drug Abuse (https://www.drugabuse. gov/): P30 DA018310 to JVS. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. B. glabrata snails were provided by the NIAID Schistosomiasis Resource Center of the BRI (Rockville, MD) through NIH-NIAID Contract HHSN272201700014I for distribution through BEI Resources. We thank Melanie Issigonis, Umair Khan, Jayhun Lee, and Tania Rozario for helpful discussions and comments on the manuscript; Tracy Chong, Jayhun Lee, and Janmesh Patel for help maintaining the schistosome life cycle; Melanie Issigonis for solving the pond water crisis; Bj{\"o}rn S{\"o}derberg and Yanxing Jia for providing Ht-13-A, -B, and derivatives; Lingyang Zhu for expert assistance with NMR; Brian Imai for assistance with SPF purification; as well as Peg Stirewalt, James Leef, Tom Nerad, and Paul Mazzocchi for their early efforts to help solve this puzzle. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2019 Gao et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.",
year = "2019",
doi = "10.1371/journal.pbio.3000485",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "17",
journal = "PLoS biology",
issn = "1544-9173",
publisher = "Public Library of Science",
number = "10",
}