A METHOD FOR THE ISOLATION OF SCHISTOSOME EGGS AND MIRACIDIA FREE OF CONTAMINATING HOST TISSUES

A novel method for the isolation of schistosome eggs and miracidia fro m livers of mice infected with Schistosoma japonicum or S. mansoni is described. The method employed collagenase B to degrade the interstiti al matrix of mouse liver tissue, after which the schistosome eggs were separated from the liver cells by 2 single-step density centrifugatio ns through Percoll. Using this procedure sufficient quantities of mira cidia were obtained to generate a cDNA library. Southern blot analysis demonstrated that miracidia isolated by this method were free from co ntaminating host DNA.