Journal
PARASITOLOGY
Volume 131, Issue -, Pages S97-S108Publisher
CAMBRIDGE UNIV PRESS
DOI: 10.1017/S0031182005008346
Keywords
praziquantel; schistosome; calcium; calcium channels
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Funding
- NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES [R01AI040522] Funding Source: NIH RePORTER
- NIAID NIH HHS [R01 AI040522, AI 40522] Funding Source: Medline
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Transient changes in calcium (Ca2+) levels regulate a wide variety of cellular processes, and cells employ both intracellular and extracellular sources of Ca2+ for signalling. Praziquantel, the drug of choice against schistosomiasis, disrupts Ca2+ homeostasis in adult worms. This review will focus on voltage-gated Ca2+ channels, which regulate levels of intracellular Ca2+ by coupling membrane depolarization to entry of extracellular Ca2+. Ca2+ channels are members of the ion channel superfamily and represent essential components of neurons, Muscles and other excitable cells. Ca2+ channels are membrane protein complexes in which the pore-forniing alpha(1) subunit is modulated by auxiliary subunits such as beta and alpha(2)delta. Schistosomes express two Ca2+ channel beta subunit subtypes: a conventional subtype similar to beta subunits found in other vertebrates and invertebrates and a novel variant Subtype With Unusual structural and functional properties. The variant schistosome beta subunit confers praziquantel sensitivity to an otherwise praziquantel-insensitive mammalian Ca2+ channel, implicating it as a mediator of praziquantel action.
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