Praziquantel activates a native cation current in Schistosoma mansoni.

INTRODUCTION: Praziquantel (PZQ), an anthelmintic drug discovered in the 1970s, is still used to treat schistosomiasis and various other infections caused by parasitic flatworms. PZQ causes a triad of phenotypic effects on schistosome worms - rapid depolarization, muscle contraction, and damage throughout the worm tegument. The molecular target mediating these effects has been intimated as a Ca2+-permeable ion channel, but native currents evoked by PZQ have not been reported in any schistosome cell type. The properties of the endogenous PZQ activated conductance therefore remain unknown.

METHODS: Here, invasive electrophysiology was used to probe for responses to PZQ from different locales in a living schistosome worm.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: No direct response was seen in tegument-derived vesicles, or from the sub-tegumental muscle layer despite the presence of voltage-operated currents. However, PZQ rapidly triggered a sustained, non-selective cation current in recordings from neuronal tissue, targeting both the anterior ganglion and the main longitudinal nerve cord. The biophysical signature of this PZQ-evoked current resolved at single channel resolution matched that of a transient receptor potential ion channel named TRPMPZQ, recently proposed as the molecular target of PZQ. The endogenous PZQ-evoked current was also inhibited by a validated TRPMPZQ antagonist. PZQ therefore is a neuroactive anthelmintic, causing a sustained depolarization through ion channels with the characteristics of TRPMPZQ.