In particular, the laboratory model Mesocestoides corti, and the pathogens Diphyllobothrium, Spirometra, and T. crassiceps should be considered priorities for future sequencing, as should the
other Hymenolepis models, H. diminuta and H. nana, which would enable fine-scale differences in tapeworm genomes to be investigated. Given that the genomes of the major flatworm pathogens will be soon fully sequenced, more comprehensive approaches concerning comparative chemogenomics and immunomodulatory factors can be launched in the near future. Similarly, the efficiency of NGS technologies Procaspase activation for the characterization of genomes the size of tapeworms means that basic aspects of their biology can be addressed by sequencing species that, for example, show different forms of body organization. Beyond such comparative approaches, targeted genetic manipulation is required to address functional hypotheses. Despite progress (89,154), these techniques are still in their infancy and CT99021 hold great potential for improvement. Success in this area will also depend on better cultivation systems for cestode laboratory models other than E. multilocularis. Apart from RNAi
by which knock-down can be achieved, albeit often with limited success depending on organism and gene, it will be most important to achieve stable expression of trans-genes in stem cells either by retroviral expression systems as has been performed in bloodflukes and planarians (155,156), or by exploiting (the few) mobile genetic elements that we have found in cestodes. Respective studies are currently underway in our laboratories and others and will, in combination with additional genome information (e.g. promoter structures;
microRNA targets), open the door to a new understanding of cestode biology. We thank especially Matt Berriman, Alejandro Sanchez-Flores, Cecilia Fernandez, Natasha Pouchkina-Stantcheva and The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute. This work was supported in part by a BBSRC Thymidylate synthase grant to PDO (BBG0038151), a BBSRC/NERC SynTax grant to PDO, MZ and Matt Berriman, as well as by grants from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (BR2045/4-1) and the Wellhöfer Foundation to KB. “
“SIV model indicates that upon traversing the cervicovaginal mucosa, SIV/SIV-infected cells migrate to regional lymph nodes where active replication occurs prior to systemic virus dissemination. The purpose of the study is to develop a model to study early HIV-1 transmission events that occur after crossing the cervical mucosa into regional lymph nodes. We developed an organ culture model combining intact cervical tissue explants and tonsil tissue cells as the surrogate draining lymphoid tissue. Viral replication was measured by HIV-1 p24 production, quantification of viral DNA and viral RNA expression in tonsil cells.