Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-94fs2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-04T19:00:58.574Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Physiological effects of platyhelminth RFamide peptides on muscle-strip preparations of Fasciola hepatica (Trematoda: Digenea)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 April 2009

N. J. Marks*
Affiliation:
Animal Health Discovery Research, Pharmacia & Upjohn Inc., Kalamazoo, Michigan, MI 49001, USA
S. Johnson
Affiliation:
Animal Health Discovery Research, Pharmacia & Upjohn Inc., Kalamazoo, Michigan, MI 49001, USA
A. G. Maule
Affiliation:
Comparative Neuroendocrinology Research Group, The Queen’s University of Belfast, Belfast BT7 1NN, Northern Ireland, UK
D. W. Halton
Affiliation:
Comparative Neuroendocrinology Research Group, The Queen’s University of Belfast, Belfast BT7 1NN, Northern Ireland, UK
C. Shaw
Affiliation:
Comparative Neuroendocrinology Research Group, The Queen’s University of Belfast, Belfast BT7 1NN, Northern Ireland, UK
T. G. Geary
Affiliation:
Animal Health Discovery Research, Pharmacia & Upjohn Inc., Kalamazoo, Michigan, MI 49001, USA
S. Moore
Affiliation:
Penninsula Laboratories (Europe) Limited, St Helens, Merseyside WA9 3AJ, UK
D. P. Thompson
Affiliation:
Animal Health Discovery Research, Pharmacia & Upjohn Inc., Kalamazoo, Michigan, MI 49001, USA
*
*Corresponding author. School of Clinical Medicine, Mulhouse Building, The Queen’s University of Belfast, Royal Victoria Hospital Site, Grosvenor Road, Belfast BT12 6BJ, Northern Ireland. Tel: 01232 240503 ext. 2730. Fax: 01232 329899.

Summary

The effects of each of the known platyhelminth neuropeptides were determined on muscle-strip preparations from the liver fluke, Fasciola hepatica. The activity of synthetic replicates of the C-terminal nonapeptide of neuropeptide F (NPF9, Moniezia expansa), and the FMRFamide-related peptides (FaRPs), GNFFRFamide, RYIRFamide, GYIRFamide and YIRFamide, were examined. Muscle-strip activity was recorded from 1 mm segments of muscle prepared from 28 to 32-day-old worms, using a photo-optic transducer system. None of the peptides ( 10 μM) altered baseline tension significantly; however, each of the peptides increased the amplitude and frequency of muscle contraction. The threshold for activity of each of the peptides examined was, respectively, 1 nM (RYIRFamide), 0·3 μM (GYIRFamide and YIRFamide), and 10 μM (GNFFRFamide and NPF9). All of the effects were reversible and repeatable, following wash-out. Muscle-strip integrity was tested following experimentation, using arecoline (10 μM) and high-K+ bathing medium (90 mM K+).

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1996

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

Atchison, W. D., Geary, T. G., Manning, B., Vande, Waa E. A. & Thompson, D. P. (1992). Comparative neuromuscular blocking actions of levamisole and pyrantel-type anthelmintics on rat and gastrointestinal nematode somatic muscle. Toxicological Applications in Pharmacology 112, 133143.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Basch, P.F. & Gupta, B.C. (1988). Immunocytochemical localization of regulatory peptides in six species of trematode parasites. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology 91C, 565570.Google ScholarPubMed
Curry, W. J., Shaw, C., Johnston, C. F., Thim, L. & Buchanan, K. D. (1992). Neuropeptide F: primary structure from the turbellarian, Artioposthia triangulata. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology 101C, 269274.Google ScholarPubMed
Day, T. A., Maule, A. G., Shaw, C., Halton, D. W., Moore, S., Bennett, J. L. & Pax, R.A. (1994). Platyhelminth FMRFamide-related peptides (FaRPs) contract Schistosoma mansoni (Trematoda: Digenea) muscle fibres in vitro. Parasitology 109, 455459.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fetterer, R. H., Pax, R. A. & Bennett, J. L. (1977). Schistosoma mansoni: direct method for simultaneous recordings of the electrical and motor activity. Experimental Parasitology 43, 286294.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Halton, D. W., Shaw, C., Maule, A. G. & Smart, D. (1994). Regulatory peptides in helminth parasites. Advances in Parasitology 34, 163227.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Johnston, R. N., Shaw, C., Halton, D. W., Verhaert, P. & Baguñà, J. (1995). GYIRFamide: A novel FMRFamide-related peptide (FaRP) from the triclad turbellarian, Dugesia tigrina. Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications 209, 689697.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Johnston, R. N., Shaw, C., Halton, D. W., Verhaert, P., Blair, K. L., Brennan, G. P., Price, D. A. & Anderson, A. V. (1996). Isolation and bioactivity of the FMRFamide-related neuropeptides GYIRFamide and YIRFamide from the marine turbellarian, Bdelloura Candida. Journal of Neurochemistry (in the Press).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Leung, P. S., Shaw, C., Maule, A. G., Thim, L., Johnston, c. F. & Irvine, G. B. (1992). The primary structure of neuropeptide F (NPF) from the garden snail, Helix aspersa. Regulatory Peptides 41, 7181.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lingueglia, E., Champigny, G., Lazdunski, M. & Barby, P. (1996). Cloning of the amiloride-sensitive FMRFamide peptide-gated sodium channel. Nature, London 378, 730733CrossRefGoogle Scholar
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, 227238.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Magee, R. M., Shaw, C., Fairweather, I., Thim, L., Johnston, C. F. & Halton, D. W. (1991). Isolation and partial sequencing of a pancreatic polypeptide-like neuropeptide from the liver fluke, Fasciola hepatica. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology 100C, 507511.Google ScholarPubMed
Marks, N. J., Halton, D. W., Maule, A. G., Brennan, G. P., Shaw, C., Southgate, V. R. & Johnston, C. F. (1995). Comparative analyses of the neuropeptide F (NPF)- and FMRFamide-related peptide (FaRP)-immunoreactivities in Fasciola hepatica and Schistosoma spp. Parasitology 110, 371381.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Maule, A. G., Shaw, C., Halton, D. W. & Thim, L. (1993). GNFFRFamide: a novel FMRFamide-immunoreactive peptide from the sheep tapeworm, Moniezia expansa. Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications 193, 154160.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Maule, A. G., Shaw, C., Halton, D. W., Curry, W. J. & Thim, T. (1994). RYIRFamide: a turbellarian FMRFamide-related peptide (FaRP). Regulatory Peptides 50, 3743.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Maule, A. G., Shaw, C., Halton, D. W., Thim, L., Johnston, C. F., Fairweather, I. & Buchanan, K. D. (1991). Neuropeptide F: a novel parasitic flatworm regulatory peptide from Moniezia expansa (Cestoda: Cyclophyllidea). Parasitology 102, 309316.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rajpara, S. M., Garcia, P. D., Roberts, R., Eliassen, J. C., Owens, D. F., Maltby, D., Mayers, R. I. & Mayeri, E. (1992). Identification and molecular cloning of a neuropeptide Y homolog that produces prolonged inhibition in Aplysia neurones. Neuron 9, 505523.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Skuce, P. J., Johnston, C. F., Fairweather, I., Halton, D. W., Shaw, C. & Buchanan, K. D. (1990). Immunoreactivity to the pancreatic polypeptide family in the nervous system of the human blood fluke, Schistosoma mansoni. Cell and Tissue Research 261, 573581.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smart, D., Shaw, C., Johnston, C. F., Thim, L., Halton, D. W. & Buchanan, K. D. (1992). Peptide tyrosine phenylalanine (PYF); a novel neuropeptide-F-related nonapeptide from the brain of Loligo vulgaris. Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications 186, 13231329.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed