About this Research Topic

Background

Human intestinal nematodes like Trichuris trichiura, hookworm, Enterobius vermicularis, Ascaris lumbricoides, and Strongyloides stercoralis infect more than 1 billion people globally placing a huge burden on human health. The disability-adjusted life years (DALYS) lost due to these parasites exceed that of malaria. Children, pregnant women, and the elderly are most at risk during infection in terms of serious illness. Control strategies are limited to repeated treatment with anthelmintics, but rapid re-infection and the development of drug resistance limit the long-term effectiveness of this approach. While vaccine research is ongoing, there currently does not exist any effective vaccine against intestinal nematodes. Therefore, more research is required into the mechanisms of nematode infections, and particularly the onset of parasitism within the intestine.

The intestinal epithelium represents an all-important interface in the conflict between parasitism and immunity in response to intestinal helminth infection. The molecular push and pull between parasite and host deploys a rich array of signaling cascades that trigger helminth detection by tuft cells, host type 2 immune responses, and ultimately the transition to nematode parasitism. Dissecting the signaling pathways and cells orchestrating this interplay is central to our understanding of the infection process. Blocking worm development in the intestine would prevent the switch from the infective stage to the parasitic stage, and therefore studying the molecular interplay between host and helminth in the intestine may reveal novel substrates for intervention.

This research topic will focus on the interplay between parasitic nematodes and the intestinal epithelium, in order to better understand the onset of parasitism during infection. Our aim is to discuss how novel insights using diverse techniques that span cell biology, molecular biology, and bioinformatic and in silico methods advance our understanding of nematode parasitism. In addition, we will discuss new methods and tools that can be applied to the study of epithelial cell immunity during nematode infection. We welcome the submission of original research, methods developments, reviews, and perspective articles broadly covering the molecular interface between parasitic nematodes and the intestine.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Classification
• Clinical Trial
• Editorial
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• ... View all formats

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Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Classification
• Clinical Trial
• Editorial
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Review
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: parasitic nematode, intestinal epithelial cells, helminth, immunity, immunomodulatory

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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