Voltage-gated calcium channel subunits from platyhelminths: potential role in praziquantel action.
Voltage-gated calcium (Ca2+) channels provide the pathway for Ca2+ influxes that underlie Ca2+ -dependent responses in muscles, nerves and other excitable cells. They are also targets of a wide variety of drugs and toxins. Ca2+ channels are multisubunit protein complexes consisting of a pore-forming alpha(1) subunit and other modulatory subunits, including the beta subunit. Here, we review the structure and function of schistosome Ca2+ channel subunits, with particular emphasis on variant Ca2+ channel beta subunits (Ca(v)betavar) found in these parasites. In particular, we examine the role these beta subunits may play in the action of praziquantel, the current drug of choice against schistosomiasis. We also present evidence that Ca(v)betavar homologs are found in other praziquantel-sensitive platyhelminths such as the pork tapeworm, Taenia solium, and that these variant beta subunits may thus represent a platyhelminth-specific gene family.
Instituto de Neurobiología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Campus UNAM-UAQ Juriquilla, Querétaro, Qro. 76001, México.
Michael C
MC
Jeziorski
Robert M
RM
Greenberg
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D000871:Anthelmintics / Q000494:pharmacology*; D015220:Calcium Channels / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D015640:Ion Channel Gating / Q000187:drug effects; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010986:Platyhelminths / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D011223:Praziquantel / Q000494:pharmacology*; D016415:Sequence Alignment
D000871:Anthelmintics; D015220:Calcium Channels; D011223:Praziquantel