Tehran University of Medical Sciences Iranian Journal of Parasitology 1735-7020 10 3 2015 10 17 329 337 EN Xiaoqiang WANG College of Chemistry and Bioengineering, Lanzhou Jiaotong University, Lanzhou, P.R. China Juntao DING College of Chemistry and Bioengineering, Lanzhou Jiaotong University, Lanzhou, P.R. China Xiaola GUO State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Etiological Biology, Key Laboratory of Veterinary Parasitology of Gansu Province, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, CAAS, Lanzhou, Gansu, China Yadong ZHENG State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Etiological Biology, Key Laboratory of Veterinary Parasitology of Gansu Province, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, CAAS, Lanzhou, Gansu, China 2015 10 17 2015 10 17 Background: Echinococcus multilocularis is a tiny tapeworm, responsible for 0.3~0.5 million alveolar echinococcosis in humans. Methods: We searched relevant papers published between 1981 and 2013 based on the database sources such as PubMed and Google scholar, and collected and integrated the data for analysis. Results: The parasite is able to use host-originated molecules to modulate its develop­ment and has complex signalling pathways than expected previously. E. multilocularis utilizes many types of alternative splicing approaches to generate transcript isoforms. Recently, the genome of E. multilocularis has been deciphered. Conclusion: These data will give us a profound understanding of biology of E. multilocularis, which will promote the use as a model to study helminths.  https://ijpa.tums.ac.ir/index.php/ijpa/article/view/541 https://ijpa.tums.ac.ir/index.php/ijpa/article/download/541/297