Induction of specific RNAi following treatment with cathepsin D dsRNA. (A) SmCD enzyme activity in extracts of schistosomula. Three hour old schistosomula were electroporated with 10 μg of SmCD 1.2 kb-dsRNA or Luc-dsRNA, and cultured for 14 days post-electroporation in the presence of human erythrocytes. (B) Shows relative cathepsin D gene expression of the same treatment group. RNA was 10 fold serially diluted, and assayed by RT-PCR for SmCD and SmCB1. The dilution series reflects input of 50.0, 5.0, 0.05 ng of total RNA into the RT-PCRs. In all cases, statistically significant differences between experimental and control groups were observed (p<0.05).