<i>SmEno</i> gene suppression using RNA interference.

<p>(<b>A</b>) Mean level of <i>SmEno</i> gene expression (+/-SD, n = 3) in cultured adult schistosome males (left), females (center) or schistosomula (right) at 72 hours after treatment with control, irrelevant siRNA (“Cont” black bars, set at 100%) or siRNA targeting <i>Sm</i>Eno (“Eno”, white bars), as determined by qRT-PCR. (<b>B</b>) Detection by western blot of <i>Sm</i>Eno protein (top row), in extracts prepared from parasites 72 h after treatment with <i>Sm</i>Eno (Eno) or control (Cont) siRNAs. Diminished levels of <i>Sm</i>Eno protein is seen in the first lane of each group of samples. Western blot analysis detecting a control schistosome protein (lower row) shows roughly equivalent protein amounts per lane. (<b>C</b>) Mean (+/-SD, n = 3) surface <i>Sm</i>Eno enzyme activity in live adult male (left) or female (center) parasites or schistosomula (right) after treatment with control siRNA (“Cont”, black bars) or siRNA targeting <i>Sm</i>Eno (“Eno”, white bars). Significant differences between suppressed compared to control parasites are denoted by ***, p <0.001. (<b>D</b>) Plasmin activity (mean OD₄₀₅ value +/- SD, n = 3) detected in live adult male (left) or female (center) parasites or schistosomula (right) after treatment with control siRNA (“Cont”, black bars) or siRNA targeting <i>Sm</i>Eno (“Eno”, white bars). All conditions contain plasminogen (PLMG), and tissue plasminogen activator (tPA).