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Human portal serum stimulates cell proliferation in immature Schistosoma mansoni

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 October 1998

Y. M. SHAKER
Affiliation:
Department of Biochemistry, National Research Centre, Cairo, Egypt
C. H. WU
Affiliation:
Department of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology-Hepatology, University of Connecticut School of Medicine, Farmington, CT, USA
F. A. EL-SHOBAKI
Affiliation:
Department of Biochemistry, National Research Centre, Cairo, Egypt
E. ASHOUR
Affiliation:
Department of Biochemistry, National Research Centre, Cairo, Egypt
H. M. KHATTAB
Affiliation:
Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt
H. M. DRAZ
Affiliation:
Department of Biochemistry, National Research Centre, Cairo, Egypt
R. KAMEL
Affiliation:
Department of Surgery, Ain Shams University Hospital, Cairo, Egypt
G. Y. WU
Affiliation:
Department of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology-Hepatology, University of Connecticut School of Medicine, Farmington, CT, USA

Abstract

Schistosomula of Schistosoma mansoni were incubated in RPMI 1640 medium containing 10% fetal calf serum, 10% human portal venous or 10% human peripheral venous sera in the presence of bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) in order to measure differences in cell proliferation. The rates of cell proliferation as expressed by BrdU labelling indices (BLI) were determined as a function of time of incubation by immunohistochemistry using monoclonal antibody to BrdU. Compared to schistosomula cultured in the presence of RPMI plus 10% fetal calf serum, BLIs were increased by 60% in the presence of human portal, but not in peripheral serum. This stimulatory effect was substantially reproduced by a fraction of portal serum with a molecular weight range between 1 and 50 kDa. However, in the presence of human peripheral venous serum, either whole or fractionated, schistosomula showed no significant difference compared to RPMI plus 10% fetal calf serum alone. Furthermore, human portal serum fractions of molecular weight greater than 50 kDa also revealed no significant difference relative to control. The results indicate that portal venous serum component(s) of a molecular weight range higher than most simple nutrients can greatly stimulate the rate of cell proliferation of Schistosoma mansoni schistosomula.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
1998 Cambridge University Press

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