IDENTIFICATION OF RAS, MAP KINASES, AND A GAP PROTEIN IN SCHISTOSOMA-MANSONI BY IMMUNOBLOTTING AND THEIR PUTATIVE INVOLVEMENT IN MALE-FEMALE INTERACTION

The maturation of female Schistosoma mansoni depends on pairing with a male which induces mitotic activities in the reproductive organs of t he female worm. Since in other organisms cell proliferation is regulat ed by well-conserved signal transducing molecules, we looked for such molecules on immunoblots of schistosomes, using antibodies against con served epitopes of Pas, GAP and MAP kinases. We identified all 3 molec ules in schistosomes and found that they are developmentally regulated . Furthermore, there is evidence for their involvement in the male-dir ected maturation of the female.