Preparation of Nippostrongylus brasiliensis Larvae for the Study of Host Skin Response

Hookworms are skin penetrating parasites, however in the laboratory the hookworm model Nippostrongylus brasiliensis, the parasite is traditionally administered subcutaneously bypassing the skin (epidermis and dermis). Here, we describe two complementary approaches for infecting mice with N. brasiliensis in order to study the skin immune responses. The first approach employs a skin percutaneous injection that is poorly efficient with the laboratory strain of the parasite in mice, but represents a natural infection. The second approach employs an intradermal injection of the parasite, allowing the controlled delivery of the parasitic larvae and leads to an infection that closely mimics the natural kinetics of parasite migration and development. Both of those infection models allow the investigator to study the skin immune response mounted against the parasite, in addition to detailed investigations of the early immunomodulatory strategies employed by the parasite during skin invasion.