Morbidity associated with hepatic and urogenital schistosomiasis stems primarily from the host immune response directed against schistosome eggs. When eggs become entrapped in host tissues, the development of fibrotic plaques drives downstream pathology. These events occur due to the antigenic nature of egg excretory/secretory products (ESPs). Both Schistosoma mansoni and S. japonicum ESPs have been shown to interact with several cell populations in the host liver including hepatocytes, macrophages, and hepatic stellate cells, with both immunomodulatory and pathological consequences. Several protein components of the ESPs of S. mansoni and S. japonicum eggs have been characterised; however, studies into the collective contents of schistosome egg ESPs are lacking. Utilising shotgun mass spectrometry and an array of in silico analyses, we identified 266, 90 and 50 proteins within the S. mansoni, S. japonicum and S. haematobium egg secretomes respectively. We identified numerous proteins with already established immunomodulatory activities, vaccine candidates and vesicle markers. Relatively few common orthologues within the ESPs were identified by BLAST, indicating that the three egg secretomes differ in content significantly. Having a clearer understanding of these components may lead to the identification of new proteins with uncharacterised immunomodulatory potential or pathological relevance. This will enhance our understanding of host-parasite interactions, particularly those occurring during chronic schistosomiasis, and pave the way towards novel therapeutics and vaccines.

与肝脏和泌尿生殖系统血吸虫病相关的发病率主要源于针对血吸虫卵的宿主免疫反应。当卵被困在宿主组织中时，纤维化斑块的发展会驱动下游病理。这些事件的发生是由于卵排泄/分泌产物 (ESP) 的抗原性质。曼氏血吸虫和日本血吸虫ESP 均已被证明与宿主肝脏中的多种细胞群相互作用，包括肝细胞、巨噬细胞和肝星状细胞，产生免疫调节和病理后果。曼氏血吸虫和日本血吸虫卵ESP 的几种蛋白质成分已得到表征；然而，对血吸虫卵 ESP 集体内容的研究还很缺乏。利用鸟枪质谱法和一系列计算机分析，我们在曼氏沙门氏菌、日本沙门氏菌和埃及沙门氏菌卵分泌组中分别鉴定了 266、90 和 50 种蛋白质。我们鉴定了许多具有已确定的免疫调节活性的蛋白质、候选疫苗和囊泡标记物。通过 BLAST 鉴定出 ESP 内的常见直系同源物相对较少，表明这三个卵分泌组的含量差异显着。对这些成分有更清晰的了解可能会导致鉴定具有未表征的免疫调节潜力或病理相关性的新蛋白质。这将增强我们对宿主与寄生虫相互作用的理解，特别是在慢性血吸虫病期间发生的相互作用，并为新的治疗方法和疫苗铺平道路。