Activity and transcriptional profiling of SmPOP in the developmental stages of <i>S</i>. <i>mansoni</i>.

<p>(A) The expression of SmPOP was evaluated by quantitative RT-PCR. mRNA transcriptional levels are presented as the percentage of expression relative to the constitutively expressed <i>S</i>. <i>mansoni</i> cytochrome oxidase I (SmCOX I). The mean values ± S.D. of three replicates are given. (B) SmPOP activities were measured in protein extracts of the developmental stages (except sporocysts not available in sufficient amount and purity) using a kinetic assay with the fluorogenic substrate Z-Gly-Pro-AMC at pH 8.0. POP activities (sensitive to inhibition by the specific POP inhibitor Z-Pro-Pro-CHO) are expressed in relative fluorescence units (RFU/s) and normalized to protein content.