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Physiological and pharmacological properties of muscle cells isolated from the flatworm Bdelloura candida (Tricladia)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 April 2009

K. L. Blair
Affiliation:
Whitney Laboratory andUniversity of Florida, 9505 Ocean Shore Blvd., St Augustine, FL 32086, USA
P. A. V. Anderson
Affiliation:
Whitney Laboratory andUniversity of Florida, 9505 Ocean Shore Blvd., St Augustine, FL 32086, USA Departments of Physiology and Neuroscience, University of Florida, 9505 Ocean Shore Blvd., St Augustine, FL 32086, USA

Summary

A protocol for dissociating single muscle fibres from intact flatworms was developed. Muscle fragments of various sizes were obtained, many with their cell bodies, or myocytons, intact. Many of the fibres were spontaneously contractile, and they and others contracted in response to applications of transmitter candidates, activators of protein kinase C and the anthelmintic praziquantel. The responses were all similar to those evoked in strips of tissue. Voltage clamp recordings from the isolated muscle fibres revealed that they possess an inward Ca2+ current and 3 separate K+ currents. These results indicate that muscle fibres in Bdelloura bear receptors for neurotransmitters and that preparations of dispersed muscle fibres can be used for studying the basic physiological and pharmacological properties of platyhelminth muscle.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1994

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