Supplementary material for Davis et al. (1999) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 96(15), 8687-8692.

Supplemental Materials and Methods. Adult Schistosoma mansoni were obtained by perfusion of 45-day infected Syrian golden hamsters. The adult schistosomes were placed in culture medium containing RPMI 1640 medium supplemented with 2 mM glutamine, 1 mM sodium pyruvate, 10 mM Hepes, 10% heat-inactivated FBS, 100 units of penicillin, and 100 mg/ml streptomycin for up to 24 hr before use [Gregoire, R. J., Shi, M. H., Rekosh, D. M. & Loverde, P. T. (1987) J. Immunol. 139, 3792-3801]. Approximately 10-15 worms pairs were place in the center of 35-mm Petri dishes in media; the media were carefully removed and subjected to the following physical biolistic parameters: 15 inHg (1 inHg = 3.39 ´ 10³ Pa) of chamber vacuum, target distance of 3 cm (stage 1), 1,500-2,000 psi particle acceleration pressure, and 1.6 µm gold microcarriers. Following biolistics, medium was added and schistosomes were incubated at 37°C in a humidified incubator with 5% CO₂ until assayed for luciferase activity. Worms were collected, processed, and assayed essentially as described for luciferase activity in Ascaris embryos. Activity shown represents only »30% of the total activity in the schistosome samples.