Worms clear the smoke surrounding nicotine addiction.
In this issue of Cell, Feng et al. report a worm model of nicotine dependence that shows behavioral adaptations surprisingly similar to those in humans. These authors show a critical link between nicotinic receptors and TRP channels, which may represent a new therapeutic target for treating nicotine addiction.
Kelley
Ann E
AE
Department of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 6001 Research Park Boulevard, Madison, WI 53705, USA. aekelley@wisc.edu
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D019943:Amino Acid Substitution; D000818:Animals; D017089:Ankyrin Repeat; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology*; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009538:Nicotine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D011978:Receptors, Nicotinic / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D050052:TRPC Cation Channels / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D014029:Tobacco Use Disorder
D011978:Receptors, Nicotinic; D050052:TRPC Cation Channels; C104603:TRPC3 cation channel; D009538:Nicotine