title: Voltage-gated sodium channels as targets for pyrethroid insecticides.
abstract: The pyrethroid insecticides are a very successful group of compounds that have been used extensively for the control of arthropod pests of agricultural crops and vectors of animal and human disease. Unfortunately, this has led to the development of resistance to the compounds in many species. The mode of action of pyrethroids is known to be via interactions with the voltage-gated sodium channel. Understanding how binding to the channel is affected by amino acid substitutions that give rise to resistance has helped to elucidate the mode of action of the compounds and the molecular basis of their selectivity for insects vs mammals and between insects and other arthropods. Modelling of the channel/pyrethroid interactions, coupled with the ability to express mutant channels in oocytes and study function, has led to knowledge of both how the channels function and potentially how to design novel insecticides with greater species selectivity.
authors.affiliation: Rothamsted Research, Herts, Harpenden, AL5 2JQ, UK. lin.field@rothamsted.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Linda M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Field
authors.affiliation: Rothamsted Research, Herts, Harpenden, AL5 2JQ, UK.
authors.forename: T G
authors.initials: TG
authors.lastname: Emyr Davies
authors.affiliation: Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, L3 3AF, UK.
authors.forename: Andrias O
authors.initials: AO
authors.lastname: O'Reilly
authors.affiliation: Rothamsted Research, Herts, Harpenden, AL5 2JQ, UK.
authors.forename: Martin S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Williamson
authors.affiliation: Birkbeck College, University of London, London, WC1E 7HX, UK.
authors.forename: B A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Wallace
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D019476:Insect Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D007306:Insecticides / Q000494:pharmacology*; D011722:Pyrethrins / Q000494:pharmacology*; D061585:Voltage-Gated Sodium Channel Agonists / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D019476:Insect Proteins; D007306:Insecticides; D011722:Pyrethrins; D061585:Voltage-Gated Sodium Channel Agonists
keywords: Insecticides; Mode of action; Modelling; Pyrethroids; Resistance