Necator americanus the "American Murderer"

Veeren Chauhan, who is the Future Targeted Healthcare Manufacturing Research Fellow in the Division of Advanced Materials and Healthcare at the School of Pharmacy, has reported that his group have recently published an article in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, which was also selected to cover the current issue of the Journal (see below):

Necator americanus the "American Murderer"

Necator americanus is an intestinal hookworm parasite of humans that is commonly found in tropical and sub-tropical climates. N. americanus infections can be treated effectively with anthelmintic drug therapy; however, in endemic areas re-infection quickly returns. Chronic hookworm infection can lead to intestinal blood loss, iron deficiency anaemia, malnutrition and physical and intellectual impairment. N. americanus surfaces may possess key physicochemical properties that permit successful host infection. Therefore, we harnessed controlled exsheathment of infective axenic L3 larva to investigate the physicochemical properties of the emergent cuticle and deposited sheath, using atomic force microscopy (AFM) and time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS). Our results provide an early insight into the differential physicochemical properties of these bio-surfaces, allowing the development of a hypothesis as to how these chemistries may be involved in infection and immune evasion. This new analytical platform will allow us to test this hypothesis and translate our findings into an immuno-biological context.