Guanosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate: a tapeworm-secreted signal molecule communicating with the rat host's small intestine.
Tapeworms alter the physiological environment of the host's small intestinal lumen by contracting the intestinal smooth muscle, thereby slowing the transit of intestinal contents. We hypothesize that parasite-to-host molecular signaling is responsible for the specific patterns of small intestinal smooth muscle contraction observed both during tapeworm infection and after the infusion of tapeworm-secreted molecules into the intestinal lumen of unanesthetized rats. Of the tapeworm-secreted compounds tested, only lumenal infusion of guanosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate (cGMP) induced contractile patterns that mimic those observed during tapeworm infection. The response to cGMP occurred in a concentration-dependent fashion. Our study clearly demonstrates that cGMP can serve as an extracellular signal molecule regulating small intestinal motility mechanisms in vivo.
Kroening
K Dubear
KD
Department of Comparative Biosciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2015 Linden Drive, Madison, Wisconsin 53706-1102, USA.
Zimmerman
Noah P
NP
Bass
Paul
P
Oaks
John A
JA
D000200:Action Potentials; D000818:Animals; D001681:Biological Assay / Q000379:methods; D006152:Cyclic GMP / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D004576:Electromyography; D020555:GTP-Binding Protein Regulators / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D005769:Gastrointestinal Motility / Q000502:physiology; D006790:Host-Parasite Interactions; D006925:Hymenolepiasis / Q000469:parasitology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D006926:Hymenolepis / Q000502:physiology*; D007421:Intestine, Small / Q000469:parasitology / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D009130:Muscle, Smooth / Q000502:physiology; D051381:Rats
D020555:GTP-Binding Protein Regulators; D006152:Cyclic GMP