Progresses and challenges of Strongyloides spp. proteomics

The availability of high-quality data of helminth genomes provided over the last two decades has supported and accelerated large-scale ‘omics studies and, consequently, the achievement of a more in depth molecular characterisation of a number of pathogens. Strongyloides spp. are no less and since their genome was made available transcriptomics has been rather frequently applied to investigate gene expression regulation across their life cycle. Strongyloides proteomics characterisation has instead been somehow neglected, with only a few reports performing high-throughput or targeted analyses associated with protein identification by tandem mass spectrometry. Such investigations are however necessary in order to discern important aspects associated with human strongyloidiasis, including understanding parasite biology and the mechanisms of host-parasite interaction, but also to identify novel diagnostic and therapeutic targets. In this review article we will give an overview of the published proteomics studies investigating strongyloidiasis at different levels, spanning from the characterisation of the somatic proteome and excretory/secretory products of different parasite stages to the investigation of potentially immunogenic proteins. Moreover, in the effort to try to start filling the current gap in host-proteomics, we will also present the first serum proteomics analysis in patients suffering from human strongyloidiasis.