STAGE-SPECIFIC SERINE AND METALLOPROTEINASE RELEASE BY ADULT AND LARVAL TRICHOSTRONGYLUS-VITRINUS

Proteinases were released in a stage-specific manner during in vitro c ulture by 4th larval stage and adult Trichostrongylus vitrinus. Substr ate gel analyses and inhibitor studies revealed the presence of serine and metallo-proteinases, active over a broad pH range, which degraded proteins such as fibrinogen, plasminogen and fibronectin but not immu noglobulin. The adult proteinases were partially inhibited (43%) by im munoglobulin from immune lamb lymph compared to controls, indicating t heir relevance to parasite immunobiology in vivo. (C) 1997 Australian Society for Parasitology. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd,