Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-p9bg8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T08:49:41.840Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Platyhelminth FMRFamide-related peptides (FaRPs) contract Schistosoma mansoni (Trematoda: Digenea) muscle fibres in vitro

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 April 2009

T. A. Day ,
A. G. Maule ,
C. Shaw ,
D. W. Halton ,
S. Moore ,
J. L. Bennett  and
R. A. Pax
T. A. Day
Affiliation:
Departments of Zoology and Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA
A. G. Maule
Affiliation:
Departments of Comparative Neuroendocrinology Research Group, Schools of Clinical Medicine and Biology and Biochemistry, The Queen's University of Belfast, Belfast B T7 INN, UK
C. Shaw
Affiliation:
Departments of Comparative Neuroendocrinology Research Group, Schools of Clinical Medicine and Biology and Biochemistry, The Queen's University of Belfast, Belfast B T7 INN, UK
D. W. Halton
Affiliation:
Departments of Comparative Neuroendocrinology Research Group, Schools of Clinical Medicine and Biology and Biochemistry, The Queen's University of Belfast, Belfast B T7 INN, UK
S. Moore
Affiliation:
Departments of Peninsula Laboratories (Europe) Ltd, St Helens, Merseyside WA9 3AJ, UK
J. L. Bennett
Affiliation:
Departments of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA
R. A. Pax
Affiliation:
Departments of Zoology and Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Molluscan FMRFamide and two recently discovered platyhelminth FMRFamide-related peptides (FaRPs), GNFFRFamide from the cestode Moniezia expansa and RYIRFamide from the terrestrial turbellarian Artioposthia triangulata, cause dose-dependent contractions of individual muscle fibres from Schistosoma mansoni in vitro. The most potent FaRP tested was the turbellarian peptide RYIRFamide, which produced a concentration-dependent effect between 10−9 and 10−7 M. FMRFamide and GNFFRFamide were less potent, inducing contractions between 10−8–10−6 M and 10−7–10−5 M respectively. The contractile effect of each of these peptides was blocked by the presence of 1 µM FMR-DFamide. FMRF free acid did not elicit contraction of the muscle fibres. The FaRP-induced contractions did not occur if the Ca2+ was omitted and 0·5 µM EGTA was added to the extracellular medium. The FaRP-induced contractions were not blocked by the Ca2+ channel blockers nicardipine, verapamil or diltiazem, although high K+-induced contractions of these fibres were blocked by nicardipine. These data indicate the presence of FaRP receptors on schistosome muscle fibres and demonstrate their ability to mediate muscle contraction. The action of these endogenous flatworm peptides on schistosome muscle is the first demonstration of a direct excitatory effect of any putative neurotransmitter on the muscle of a flatworm, and establishes a role for FaRPs in neuromuscular transmission in trematodes. In addition, it provides the first evidence that the peptidergic nervous system is a rational target for chemotherapeutic attack in parasitic platyhelmiths.

Keywords

Schistosoma mansoniplatyhelminthtrematodemuscleFMRFamide-related peptideFMRFamideGNFFRFamideRYIRFamide
Type
Research Article
Information
Parasitology , Volume 109 , Issue 4 , November 1994 , pp. 455 - 459
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1994

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Barnes, R. S. K., Calow, P. & Olive, P. J. W. (1988). The Invertebrates: A New Synthesis. Oxford: Blackwell Scientific Publications.Google Scholar
Day, T. A., Bennett, J. L. & Pax, R. A. (1984). Serotonin and its requirement for maintenance of contractility in muscle fibres isolated from Schistosoma mansoni. Parasitology 108, 425–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fetterer, R. H., Pax, R. A. & Bennett, J. L. (1977). Schistosoma mansoni: Direct method for simultaneous recording of electrical and motor activity. Experimental Parasitology 43, 286–94.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gustafsson, M. K. S. (1987). Immunocytochemical demonstration of neuropeptides and serotonin in the nervous system of adult Schistosoma mansoni. Parasitology Research 74, 168–74.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Halton, D. W., Shaw, C., Maule, A. G. & Smart, D. (1994). Regulatory peptides in helminth parasites. Advances in Parasitology 34, 163–227.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kizawa, Y., Inudoh, S., Arai, Y., Uemura, Y., Ohura, M., Matsura, H., Tssukimura, T. & Murakami, H. (1991). Organic Ca2+-antagonist-resistant response to FMRF-NH2 on the molluscan smooth muscle. General Pharmacology 22, 959–64.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Magee, R. M., Fairweather, I., Johnston, C. F., Halton, D. W. & Shaw, C. (1989). Immunocytochemical demonstration of neuropeptides in the nervous system of the liver fluke, Fasciola hepatica (Trematoda, Digenea). Parasitology 98, 227–38.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Maule, A. G., Halton, D. W., Johnston, C. F., Fairweather, I. & Shaw, C. (1989). Immunocytochemical demonstration of neuropeptides in the fish-gill parasite, Diclidophora merlangi (Monogenoidea). International Journal for Parasitology 19, 307–16.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Maule, A. G., Shaw, C., Halton, D. W. & Thim, L. (1993). GNFFRFamide: a novel FMRFamide-immunoreactive peptide isolated from the sheep tapeworm Moniezia expansa. Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications 193, 1054–60.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Maule, A. G., Shaw, C., Halton, D. W., Curry, W. J. & Thim, L. (1994). RYIRFamide: a turbellarian FMRFamide-related peptide (FaRP). Regulatory Peptides 50, 37–43.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pax, R. A. & Bennett, J. L. (1992). Neurobiology of parasitic flatworms: How much ‘neuro’ in the biology? Journal of Parasitology 78, 194–205.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Reuter, M. (1987). Immunocytochemical demonstration of serotonin and neuropeptides in the nervous system of Gyrodactylus salaris (Monogenea). Acta Zoologica 68, 187–93.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilkgren, M., Reuter, M. & Gustafsson, M. (1986). Neuropeptides in free-living and parasitic flatworms (Platyhelminthes). An immunohistochemical study. Hydrobiologica 132, 93–9CrossRefGoogle Scholar