Ricerc@Sapienza

Nematode parasites are a group of pathogens widely distributed in marine and terrestrial ecosystems. They afflict humanity with usually chronic and rarely lethal diseases, as they tend to establish long-lived chronic infections being masters of host immune system manipulation.
Despite their public health and economic relevance, the research on pathogenetic mechanisms of infections and host-parasite interplay are at their infancy. The advancement in knowledge have been so far impeded by their intrinsic natural biological complexity, by the lack of funds dedicated and of proper in-vitro models as well as by the scant large scale genomic reliable data.
The project ¿Exploring the role of exosomes in host-nematode interactions using intestinal organoids¿ is aimed to develop and assess a new superior in-vitro model based on organoids to explore the role of extracellular vesicles (EVs) in host parasite interplay.
Organoids are the most advanced and powerful tool to study pathogenesis of infectious agents being a multicellular three-dimensional structure able to recapitulate the physiologic function of the organ from which they are derived. They are widely used to study host/microbiota/pathogens interactions, however applications in parasitology are still scarce. EVs are changing the paradigm of intercellular communication being an evolutionary conserved communication mechanisms even at kingdom rank. EVs traffic contents in a protected state and recently emerged as relevant players in intercellular signalling and helminths-host interactions.
Here, we selected two zoonotic parasitic nematodes to explore inflammatory and immune response during infection using organoids: the fish-born nematode Anisakis spp. agent of anisakiasis, a disease considered emerging in Europe; and the terrestrial Strongyloides spp. agent of strongiloidiasis, an important and potentially severe neglected tropical disease.