ArticleCurrent biology : CB2022
The neural basis of heat seeking in a human-infective parasitic worm.
Article in Current biology : CB, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers.
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Who cites it
22 citing papers in PubMed, 33 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
- 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
- Evolution of lateralized gustation in nematodes.eLife · 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
- Neurogenesis in Caenorhabditis elegans.Genetics · 2024Review
- 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
- Introduction toJournal of nematology · 2024Article
- Fantastic beasts and how to study them: rethinking experimental animal behavior.The Journal of experimental biology · 2024Article
- A standard workflow for community-driven manual curation ofPhilosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2024Article
- Review
- Invade or die: behaviours and biochemical mechanisms that drive skin penetration inPhilosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2024Review
- 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
- Making sense of sensory behaviors in vector-borne helminths.Trends in parasitology · 2022Review
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Soil-transmitted parasitic nematodes infect over one billion people and cause devastating morbidity worldwide. Many of these parasites have infective larvae that locate hosts using thermal cues. Here, we identify the thermosensory neurons of the human threadworm Strongyloides stercoralis and show that they display unique functional adaptations that enable the precise encoding of temperatures up to human body temperature. We demonstrate that experience-dependent thermal plasticity regulates the dynamic range of these neurons while preserving their ability to encode host-relevant temperatures. We describe a novel behavior in which infective larvae spontaneously reverse attraction to heat sources at sub-body temperatures and show that this behavior is mediated by rapid adaptation of the thermosensory neurons. Finally, we identify thermoreceptors that confer parasite-specific sensitivity to body heat. Our results pinpoint the parasite-specific neural adaptations that enable parasitic nematodes to target humans and provide the foundation for drug development to prevent human infection.
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Registered trials
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.