# Functional Characterization of the Schistosome Tegument

> **NIH NIH R01** · TUFTS UNIVERSITY BOSTON · 2024 · $412,500

## Abstract

Schistosomes are parasitic flatworms that cause a chronic, debilitating disease afflicting
>200 million people in >70 countries. The parasites live for years in what should be a very
hostile environment – the blood of vertebrates – yet they appear to elicit little if any
damaging responses from the host’s hemostatic systems. We hypothesize that proteins at
the host-interactive surface, identified in the previous funding cycle, are central to this
ability. In this competing renewal, we propose to test several key hypotheses concerning:
1) the hemostatic roles of tegumental ectoenzymes SmNPP5 & SmATPDase in vitro and
in vivo, 2) the ability of tegumental ectoenzymes SmAP & NACE to generate key nutrients
- adenosine and nicotinamide respectively - that are vital for schistosome survival and
growth and 3) the ability of tegumental calpain to impede coagulation, promote
thrombolysis and to block local thrombus formation in vivo. These studies aim to reveal the
physiological functions of these proteins and will yield significant new information on the
molecular mechanisms used by schistosomes to blunt both arms of the host thrombotic
response (platelet function and the coagulation cascade) while maintaining access to vital
nutrients. In addition, the work may identify tegumental proteins critical for parasite survival
leading to subsequent screens to discover potential schistosome-killing drugs that inhibit
these molecules and/or to trials testing their vaccine potential. In this way, our planned
experiments have the potential to reveal novel and valid targets, as well as new
treatments, for intervention in a parasite that remains a widespread and major cause of
human disease. Additionally, given wide interest in understanding the mechanisms
governing coagulation control, knowing how schistosomes regulate this process will be of
interest beyond the field of eukaryotic pathogen research.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10877248
- **Project number:** 2R01AI056273-17A1
- **Recipient organization:** TUFTS UNIVERSITY BOSTON
- **Principal Investigator:** Patrick J Skelly
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $412,500
- **Award type:** 2
- **Project period:** 2004-03-15 → 2028-12-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10877248

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10877248, Functional Characterization of the Schistosome Tegument (2R01AI056273-17A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-27 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10877248. Licensed CC0.

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