The Role of Microscopy in the Investigation of Paramyosin as a Vaccine Candidate against Schistosoma japonicum.

There has been growing interest in paramyosin as a vaccine component to combat schistosomiasis. Immunological and molecular techniques have been used in the past to investigate the effectiveness of a paramyosin vaccine as an anti-schistosomal treatment. However, recent localization studies at ultrastructural and morphological levels have highlighted a number of questions concerning the role of paramyosin within schistosome parasites. Debates about how a non-surface protein such as paramyosin might provide protection against schistosome infections have recently been addressed by microscopy results. Immunolocalization studies have indicated multiple functions of paramyosin within the parasite and provided insights into how a vaccine may target the parasite, as discussed here by Geoffrey Gobert.