“Will glycans pave the way to more effective helminth vaccine designs?”: WORMVACS2.0 at Glupor15

On 15 – 17 September, the Glupor15 conference took place in Coimbra, Portugal. Prof Dr Cornelis Hokke from the Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC), WORMVACS2.0 coordinator, participated and spoke about Schistosome glycosylation as a key factor in host-parasite biology.

Glupor15 is an international symposium that provides a space for glycobiologists from Portugal and Europe to share the latest progress in glycosciences and glycobiology.  Advancements in this field are highly relevant for vaccine development as well, as glycosylation can be used to develop more effective and safer vaccines. Prof Hokke held a presentation entitled “Schistosome glycosylation as a key factor in host-parasite biology”, in which he discussed antigenic glycans from schistosomes and other helminths. These glycans are targets of the antibody responses in the host, which are believed to play a role in immunity to the parasite.

Prof Dr Cornelis Hokke presenting at the Glupor15 conference.

The research done as part of the WORMVACS2.0 project, which uses controlled human infection models in endemic and non-endemic countries, is also part of this story. At the conference, Prof Hokke spoke about the glycan antigens from schistosomes that are targeted during controlled schistosome infections, discussed these in comparison to previous data the team at the LUMC generated in animal models of schistosome vaccination, and provided an outlook on how researchers can incorporate prioritised glycan antigens in the WORMVACS2.0 vaccine development pipeline.

As the WORMVACS2.0 project progresses, the partners are busy presenting emerging results. If you’re interested in learning more, be sure to explore the project's publications and the team’s contributions to international conferences, such as this year’s Hydra Helminth Conference and the EDCTP Forum.