From an epidemiological standpoint, digenetic trematodes show marked specificity for their intermediate hosts but can infect a broad spectrum of definite hosts.
When transcript abundance of the 13 genes was measured in laboratory-adapted parasite lines selected or not for CSA binding phenotype (Figure 3, left panel), only var2csa, displayed a marked specificity for CSA binding [13], [19].
During pregnancy 60% of the pre-exposed primiparous females showed pregnancy-induced malaria recrudescence and we demonstrated that the recrudescent P. berghei show an unexpected enhancement of the adherence to placenta tissue sections with a marked specificity for CSA.
In contrast, and to our surprise, OTUD2 displayed a marked specificity for the peptide that was derived from the Lys11 sequence of Ub (K11 peptide, Figures 4D and 4E).
This domain presents a small number of nucleophyle residues, including K183, and shows an extraordinary reactivity; even if it is not considered a true binding site, it is accepted that reactive aromatic electrophile compounds have a marked specificity for this region (Yamaguchi et al. 2010).
