Abstract
The coevolutionary dynamic playing in the host-parasite interaction leads to an arm race between host and parasite. In certain models, this arms race results in a compatibility polymorphism for which the molecular bases remain largely unknown. The aim of this PhD thesis was to identify the molecular determinants of the compatibility polymorphism that exists in the Biomphalaria glabrata / Schistosoma mansoni interaction. First, we developed a comparative proteomics approach between compatible and incompatible strains of the parasite. This approach allows us to identify molecules that could play a key role in this interaction. They consist in highly polymorphic mucin-like proteins, the "Schistosoma mansoni Polymorphic Mucin" (SmPoMucs), and scavengers of reactive oxygen species (ROS scavengers). In order to study more completely the arms race that takes place in the B. glabrata / S. mansoni interaction, we investigate the molluscan counterparts of these molecules. Co-precipitation approaches allow us to show that SmPoMucs interact with diversified immune receptors from the mollusk, the Fibrinogen-related Proteins (FREPs). This is the first evidence of the interaction between an individual repertoire of polymorphic potential parasite antigens (SmPoMucs) and an individual repertoire of diversified potential immune receptors (FREPs) from an invertebrate host. We found a third partner associated with FREPs and SmPoMucs, a thioester-containing Protein (TEP). TEP belongs to a class of molecules involved in the phagocytosis or in encapsulation. The presence of TEP in this immune complex argues in favor of the involvement of the formed complex in parasite immune recognition and elimination. We are also interested in the effector mechanisms responsible for the destruction of the parasite, in B. glabrata they rely essentially on the production of Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS). We show that a phenotypic concordance exists between the levels of host ROS production and parasite ROS scavengers' production. The compatibility polymorphism int he B. glabrata / S. mansoni interaction seems to be based on the confrontation of polymorphic and/or diversified molecules concerning immune recognition mechanisms and on quantitative reciprocal adaptations concerning immune effector mechanisms