Figure 1.

Mouse serum rapidly kills NTS whereas human serum promotes their development and survival. NTS were cultured and maintained in hybridoma medium (HM) with or without host sera at 37°C in 5% CO₂ for four weeks. Medium was refreshed weekly. (A) Mouse serum (MSe) kills NTS in a concentration-dependent manner. NTS were cultured in the absence or presence of increasing concentrations of human serum (HSe) or MSe and the viability scored at day seven. (B) MSe kills NTS rapidly. NTS were cultured in HM in the absence or presence of 20% of HSe or MSe and viability scored at indicated time points. Results are representative of at least three individual experiments. Each data point has been shown as mean ± SD of at least three technical replicates. (C) Schematic presentation of development of schistosomula. NTS were cultured in HM in the presence or absence of HSe or MSe in the same manner and monitored as above and the development assessed. SkS, skin stage; LuS, lung stage; eLiS, early liver stage; lLiS, late liver stage; p.t., post transformation; s.p., scoring point.