Microscopy and the helminth parasite

Microscopy has a long and distinguished history in the study of helminth parasites and has made a singularly outstanding contribution to understanding how these complex animals organise their lives and relate to their hosts. Increasingly, the microscope has been used as a powerful investigative tool in multidsciplinary approaches to parasitological problems, placing emphasis on functional correlates rather than anatomical detail. In doing so, microscopy has also uncovered a number of attributes of parasites that are of wider significance in the field of biology. Parasite surfaces have understandably demanded most of the attention of microscopists, largely as a result of the pioneering studies using transmission electron microscopy. Their findings focused the attention of physiologists and immunologists on the tegument and cuticle of helminths and in doing so helped unravel the complex molecular exchanges that are fundamental to understanding host-parasite interactions. Scanning electron microscopy succeeded in augmenting these data by revealing novel microtopographical features of the host-parasite relationship, as well as proving invaluable in helminth taxonomy and in assessing the efficacy of test substances in drug screens. Control of helminth parasites has never been more critical: problems of drug resistance demand urgent action to identify exploitable targets for new generation anthelmintics. In this regard, the neuropeptide signalling system of helminths is envisioned as central to nerve-muscle function, and thereby a crucial regulatory influence on their motility, alimentation and reproduction. The use of immunocytochemistry interfaced with confocal scanning laser microscopy has not only been instrumental in discovering the peptidergic system of helminths and its potential for chemotherapeutic exploitation, but through increasingly sophisticated bio-imaging technologies has continued to help dissect and analyse the molecular dynamics of this and other cellular systems within these important parasites. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.