ArticleCurrent biology : CB2018
A Critical Role for Thermosensation in Host Seeking by Skin-Penetrating Nematodes.
Article in Current biology : CB, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 40 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
40 citing papers in PubMed, 71 citations in OpenAlex.
- Neuronally sensed oxygen drives behavior and development in human-infective, skin-penetrating nematodes.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- The rewiring of a terminal selector regulatory cascade generates convergent neuronal laterality.PLoS genetics · 2026Article
- Transgenesis and targeted mutagenesis in the human-parasitic nematodeFrontiers in parasitology · 2026Review
- TheJournal of nematology · 2026Review
- CRISPR/Cas genome editing, functional genomics, and diagnostics for parasitic helminths.International journal for parasitology · 2025Review
- Strongyloides species exhibit distinct behaviors on the skin of different mammals.BMC infectious diseases · 2025Article
- Dopamine signaling drives skin invasion by human-infective nematodes.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Tricky with Heat and Salt: Soil Factors, Thermotaxis, and Potential for Heat-Saline Agar Trapping ofBiology · 2025Article
- Carbon dioxide shapes parasite-host interactions in a human-infective nematode.Current biology : CB · 2025Article
- Thermosensory behaviors of the free-living life stages of Strongyloides species support parasitism in tropical environments.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2024Article
- Thermosensory behaviors of the free-living life stages ofbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2024Article
- The generation of stable transgenic lines in the human-infective nematode Strongyloides stercoralis.G3 (Bethesda, Md.) · 2024Article
- Carbon dioxide shapes parasite-host interactions in a human-infective nematode.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2024Article
- Invade or die: behaviours and biochemical mechanisms that drive skin penetration inPhilosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2024Review
- A standard workflow for community-driven manual curation ofPhilosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2024Article
- Astacin metalloproteases in human-parasitic nematodes.Advances in parasitology · 2024Review
- A high-throughput sensory assay for parasitic and free-living nematodes.Integrative biology : quantitative biosciences from nano to macro · 2023Article
- Host genetic backgrounds: the key to determining parasite-host adaptation.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2023Review
- Making sense of sensory behaviors in vector-borne helminths.Trends in parasitology · 2022Review
- Using newly optimized genetic tools to probe Strongyloides sensory behaviors.Molecular and biochemical parasitology · 2022Review
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6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Skin-penetrating parasitic nematodes infect approximately one billion people worldwide and are a major source of neglected tropical disease [1-6]. Their life cycle includes an infective third-larval (iL3) stage that searches for hosts to infect in a poorly understood process that involves both thermal and olfactory cues. Here, we investigate the temperature-driven behaviors of skin-penetrating iL3s, including the human-parasitic threadworm Strongyloides stercoralis and the human-parasitic hookworm Ancylostoma ceylanicum. We show that human-parasitic iL3s respond robustly to thermal gradients. Like the free-living nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, human-parasitic iL3s show both positive and negative thermotaxis, and the switch between them is regulated by recent cultivation temperature [7]. When engaging in positive thermotaxis, iL3s migrate toward temperatures approximating mammalian body temperature. Exposing iL3s to a new cultivation temperature alters the thermal switch point between positive and negative thermotaxis within hours, similar to the timescale of thermal plasticity in C. elegans [7]. Thermal plasticity in iL3s may enable them to optimize host finding on a diurnal temperature cycle. We show that temperature-driven responses can be dominant in multisensory contexts such that, when thermal drive is strong, iL3s preferentially engage in temperature-driven behaviors despite the presence of an attractive host odorant. Finally, targeted mutagenesis of the S. stercoralis tax-4 homolog abolishes heat seeking, providing the first evidence that parasitic host-seeking behaviors are generated through an adaptation of sensory cascades that drive environmental navigation in C. elegans [7-10]. Together, our results provide insight into the behavioral strategies and molecular mechanisms that allow skin-penetrating nematodes to target humans.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.