title: Vaccinomics for the major blood feeding helminths of humans.
abstract: Approximately one billion people are infected with hookworms and/or blood flukes (schistosomes) in developing countries. These two parasites are responsible for more disability adjusted life years lost than most other neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), and together, are second only to malaria. Although anthelmintic drugs are effective and widely available, they do not protect against reinfection, resistant parasites are likely to emerge, and mass drug administration programs are unsustainable. Therefore, there is a pressing need for the development of vaccines against these parasites. In recent years, there have been major advances in our understanding of hookworms and schistosomes at the molecular level through the use of "omics" technologies. The secretomes of these parasites have been characterized using transcriptomics, genomics, proteomics, and newly developed gene manipulation and silencing techniques, and the proteins of interest are now the target of novel antigen discovery approaches, notably immunomics. This research has resulted in the discovery, development, and early stage clinical trials of subunit vaccines against hookworms and schistosomes.
authors.affiliation: Queensland Tropical Health Alliance, James Cook University, Cairns, Queensland, Australia. Alex.Loukas@jcu.edu.au
authors.forename: Alex
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Loukas
authors.forename: Soraya
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gaze
authors.forename: Jason P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Mulvenna
authors.forename: Robin B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Gasser
authors.forename: Paul J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Brindley
authors.forename: Denise L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Doolan
authors.forename: Jeffrey M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Bethony
authors.forename: Malcolm K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.forename: Geoffrey N
authors.initials: GN
authors.lastname: Gobert
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Driguez
authors.forename: Donald P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: McManus
authors.forename: Peter J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Hotez
mesh_terms: D000723:Ancylostomatoidea / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D000947:Antigens, Helminth / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D023281:Genomics; D054794:Glycomics; D006725:Hookworm Infections / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006801:Humans; D040901:Proteomics; D012547:Schistosoma / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D012552:Schistosomiasis / Q000517:prevention & control*; D014612:Vaccines / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D000947:Antigens, Helminth; D014612:Vaccines