Schistosomes infect more than 200 million people. These parasitic flatworms rely on a syncytial outer coat called the tegument to survive within the vasculature of their host. Although the tegument is pivotal for their survival, little is known about maintenance of this tissue during the decades schistosomes survive in the bloodstream. Here, we demonstrate that the tegument relies on stem cells (neoblasts) to specify fusogenic progenitors that replace tegumental cells lost to turnover. Molecular characterization of neoblasts and tegumental progenitors led to the discovery of two flatworm-specific zinc finger proteins that are essential for tegumental cell specification. These proteins are homologous to a protein essential for neoblast-driven epidermal maintenance in free-living flatworms. Therefore, we speculate that related parasites (i.e., tapeworms and flukes) employ similar strategies to control tegumental maintenance. Since parasitic flatworms infect every vertebrate species, understanding neoblast-driven tegumental maintenance could identify broad-spectrum therapeutics to fight diseases caused by these parasites.

中文翻译：

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扁虫特异性转录调节因子促进曼氏血吸虫皮膜祖细胞的规范化

血吸虫感染超过 2 亿人。这些寄生扁虫依靠称为皮膜的合胞体外皮在宿主的脉管系统中生存。尽管外皮对于血吸虫的生存至关重要，但对于血吸虫在血流中存活数十年期间该组织的维护知之甚少。在这里，我们证明了外皮依赖于干细胞（新生细胞）来指定融合祖细胞来替代因周转而丢失的外皮细胞。新生细胞和被皮祖细胞的分子特征导致发现了两种扁虫特异性锌指蛋白，它们对于被皮细胞的规范至关重要。这些蛋白质与自由生活的扁虫中新生细胞驱动的表皮维持所必需的蛋白质同源。因此，我们推测相关寄生虫（即绦虫和吸虫）采用类似的策略来控制皮膜维持。由于寄生扁虫感染所有脊椎动物物种，了解新生细胞驱动的皮膜维持可以确定对抗这些寄生虫引起的疾病的广谱疗法。