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Sattelle DB. Invertebrate neurones, genomes, phenotypic and target-based screening; their contributions to the search for new chemical leads and new molecular targets for the control of pests, parasites and disease vectors. PESTICIDE BIOCHEMISTRY AND PHYSIOLOGY 2022; 187:105175. [PMID: 36127074 DOI: 10.1016/j.pestbp.2022.105175] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/26/2022] [Revised: 07/08/2022] [Accepted: 07/08/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Insect-borne diseases of humans, animals and plants can be devastating. The direct damage to crops by insect and nematode pests can also severely reduce crop yields and threaten harvests. Parasitic nematodes can impair human health and the health of farm livestock. Effective control for all such pests, vectors and pathogens is required as the economic and health burden can be substantial. Insecticides, nematicides and anthelmintics have been at the forefront of control and will remain important in the immediate future, even as we explore new and more sustainable methods to maintain the necessary disease control and the growth in food supply. Many important chemicals deployed for the control of invertebrate disease vectors and pathogens of humans, agricultural crops and farm livestock are active on ion channels, resulting in rapid actions. Understanding their modes of action has been accelerated by studies on the physiology of identifiable invertebrate excitable cells. Nematode and insect genetic model organisms and comparative genomics have contributed to defining the molecular targets of insecticides and anthelmintics, facilitating target-based screening. Automated phenotyping, which allows high-throughput screening of chemical libraries for new and re-purposed compounds, has been increasingly deployed in the search for new molecules of interest. With a growing world population to be fed and a 20-49% loss of global harvest to pests, we need to maintain control of the pests, parasites and pathogens that threaten global food supply and global health.
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Affiliation(s)
- David B Sattelle
- Division of Medicine, Rayne Building, University College London, 5 University Street, London WC1E 6JF, UK.
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Choi MY, Vander Meer RK. GPCR-Based Bioactive Peptide Screening Using Phage-Displayed Peptides and an Insect Cell System for Insecticide Discovery. Biomolecules 2021; 11:biom11040583. [PMID: 33923387 PMCID: PMC8071521 DOI: 10.3390/biom11040583] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/26/2021] [Revised: 04/12/2021] [Accepted: 04/13/2021] [Indexed: 01/12/2023] Open
Abstract
The discovery of new insecticides improves integrated pest management (IPM), but is usually a long high-risk process with a low probability of success. For over two decades, insect neuropeptides (NPs) and their G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) have been considered as biological targets for insect pest control, because they are involved in almost all physiological processes associated with insect life stages. A key roadblock to success has been the question of how large volume chemical libraries can be efficiently screened for active compounds. New genomic and proteomic tools have advanced and facilitated the development of new approaches to insecticide discovery. In this study, we report a novel GPCR-based screening technology that uses millions of short peptides randomly generated by bacteriophages, and a method using an insect Sf9 cell expression system. The fire ant is a good model system, since bioactive peptides have been identified for a specific GPCR. The novel small peptides could interfere with the target GPCR-ligand functions. Therefore, we refer to this new mechanism as “receptor interference” (RECEPTORi). The GPCR-based bioactive peptide screening method offers multiple advantages. Libraries of phage-displayed peptides (~109 peptides) are inexpensive. An insect cell-based screening system rapidly leads to target specific GPCR agonists or antagonists in weeks. Delivery of bioactive peptides to target pests can be flexible, such as topical, ingestion, and plant-incorporated protectants. A variety of GPCR targets are available, thus minimizing the development of potential insecticide resistance. This report provides the first proof-of-concept for the development of novel arthropod pest management strategies using neuropeptides, and GPCRs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Man-Yeon Choi
- USDA-ARS, Horticultural Crops Research Laboratory, Corvallis, OR 97330, USA
- Correspondence:
| | - Robert K. Vander Meer
- USDA-ARS, Center for Medical, Agricultural, and Veterinary Entomology, Gainesville, FL 32608, USA;
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Christie AE. In silico characterization of the peptidome of the sea louse Caligus rogercresseyi (Crustacea, Copepoda). Gen Comp Endocrinol 2014; 204:248-60. [PMID: 24914818 DOI: 10.1016/j.ygcen.2014.05.031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/20/2014] [Revised: 05/24/2014] [Accepted: 05/30/2014] [Indexed: 02/01/2023]
Abstract
Copepods of the order Siphonostomatoida are a major concern for commercial aquaculture as many farmed fish serve as hosts for these parasitic crustaceans. Caligus rogercresseyi, a member of the Siphonostomatoida, is a significant problem for salmonid aquaculture in the Southern Hemisphere, and as such, a search for methods for controlling infestations of it is ongoing. One possibility for biological control of this and other copepod ectoparasites is endocrine manipulation. However, little is known about the native endocrine signaling systems in these animals. As part of an ongoing effort to characterize crustacean ectoparasite peptidergic systems, the publicly accessible C. rogercresseyi transcriptome shotgun assembly (TSA) was mined for peptide-encoding transcripts. Using the identified TSA sequences, precursor proteins were deduced and their mature peptides predicted. Thirty-three peptide-encoding transcripts were identified within the Caligus TSA dataset, with the structures of 131 distinct peptides characterized from the deduced pre/preprohormones. The predicted peptides included isoforms of allatostatin A, allatostatin B, bursicon α, bursicon β, corazonin, crustacean cardioactive peptide, crustacean hyperglycemic hormone, diuretic hormone 31, DXXRLamide, FLRFamide, FXGGXamide, GSEFLamide, insulin-like peptide (ILP), intocin, leucokinin, molt-inhibiting hormone, myosuppressin, neuroparsin, neuropeptide F (NPF), orcokinin and tachykinin-related peptide. The predicted ILPs are of particular note as they are the first members of this peptide family identified from a copepod. Similarly, the predicted complement of four distinct NPFs is larger than that known from other crustaceans. Taken collectively, these data greatly expand the known C. rogercresseyi peptidome and provide a foundation for initiating studies of peptidergic control in this species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew E Christie
- Békésy Laboratory of Neurobiology, Pacific Biosciences Research Center, University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1993 East-West Road, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA.
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Christie AE. Peptide discovery in the ectoparasitic crustacean Argulus siamensis: identification of the first neuropeptides from a member of the Branchiura. Gen Comp Endocrinol 2014; 204:114-25. [PMID: 24842716 DOI: 10.1016/j.ygcen.2014.05.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/03/2014] [Revised: 05/04/2014] [Accepted: 05/08/2014] [Indexed: 01/15/2023]
Abstract
Recent advances in high-throughput sequencing have facilitated the generation of large transcriptomic datasets for an ever-growing number of crustaceans, one being the carp louse Argulus siamensis. This and other members of the subclass Branchiura are obligate fish ectoparasites, and as such, are a major concern for commercial aquaculture. Using the extant transcriptome shotgun assembly (TSA) sequences for A. siamensis, 27 transcripts encoding putative neuropeptide precursors were identified, and their pre/preprohormones deduced and characterized using a well-established bioinformatics workflow. The structures of 105 distinct peptides were predicted from the deduced proteins, including isoforms of adipokinetic hormone (AKH), allatostatin A, allatostatin B, allatostatin C, allatotropin, bursicon α, bursicon β, crustacean cardioactive peptide (CCAP), diuretic hormone 31, diuretic hormone 44, eclosion hormone, myosuppressin, neuroparsin, neuropeptide Y, orcokinin, pigment dispersing hormone, proctolin, short neuropeptide F, SIFamide, sulfakinin and tachykinin-related peptide. While several of the predicted peptides are known from other crustacean and/or insect species, e.g. RYLPT, a broadly conserved arthropod proctolin isoform, and PFCNAFTGCamide (disulfide bridging between the two cysteines), the stereotypical crustacean CCAP, the vast majority of them are described here for the first time, e.g. pQVNFSTKWamide, a new AKH/red pigment concentrating hormone superfamily member, pQEGLDHMFMRFamide, a novel myosuppressin, and SYKSKPPFNGSIFamide, a new member of the SIFamide family. As the peptides presented here are the only ones thus far described from A. siamensis, or for that matter, any branchiuran, they represent a new resource to begin investigations of peptidergic control of physiology and behavior in this and other related aquacultural pests.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew E Christie
- Békésy Laboratory of Neurobiology, Pacific Biosciences Research Center, University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1993 East-West Road, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA.
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McVeigh P, Atkinson L, Marks NJ, Mousley A, Dalzell JJ, Sluder A, Hammerland L, Maule AG. Parasite neuropeptide biology: Seeding rational drug target selection? Int J Parasitol Drugs Drug Resist 2012; 2:76-91. [PMID: 24533265 PMCID: PMC3862435 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpddr.2011.10.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/16/2011] [Revised: 10/25/2011] [Accepted: 10/28/2011] [Indexed: 01/16/2023]
Abstract
The rationale for identifying drug targets within helminth neuromuscular signalling systems is based on the premise that adequate nerve and muscle function is essential for many of the key behavioural determinants of helminth parasitism, including sensory perception/host location, invasion, locomotion/orientation, attachment, feeding and reproduction. This premise is validated by the tendency of current anthelmintics to act on classical neurotransmitter-gated ion channels present on helminth nerve and/or muscle, yielding therapeutic endpoints associated with paralysis and/or death. Supplementary to classical neurotransmitters, helminth nervous systems are peptide-rich and encompass associated biosynthetic and signal transduction components - putative drug targets that remain to be exploited by anthelmintic chemotherapy. At this time, no neuropeptide system-targeting lead compounds have been reported, and given that our basic knowledge of neuropeptide biology in parasitic helminths remains inadequate, the short-term prospects for such drugs remain poor. Here, we review current knowledge of neuropeptide signalling in Nematoda and Platyhelminthes, and highlight a suite of 19 protein families that yield deleterious phenotypes in helminth reverse genetics screens. We suggest that orthologues of some of these peptidergic signalling components represent appealing therapeutic targets in parasitic helminths.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paul McVeigh
- Molecular Biosciences–Parasitology, Institute of Agri-Food and Land Use, School of Biological Sciences, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast BT9 7BL, UK
| | - Louise Atkinson
- Molecular Biosciences–Parasitology, Institute of Agri-Food and Land Use, School of Biological Sciences, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast BT9 7BL, UK
| | - Nikki J. Marks
- Molecular Biosciences–Parasitology, Institute of Agri-Food and Land Use, School of Biological Sciences, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast BT9 7BL, UK
| | - Angela Mousley
- Molecular Biosciences–Parasitology, Institute of Agri-Food and Land Use, School of Biological Sciences, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast BT9 7BL, UK
| | - Johnathan J. Dalzell
- Molecular Biosciences–Parasitology, Institute of Agri-Food and Land Use, School of Biological Sciences, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast BT9 7BL, UK
| | - Ann Sluder
- Scynexis Inc., P.O. Box 12878, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709-2878, USA
| | | | - Aaron G. Maule
- Molecular Biosciences–Parasitology, Institute of Agri-Food and Land Use, School of Biological Sciences, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast BT9 7BL, UK
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Larsen MJ, Lancheros ER, Williams T, Lowery DE, Geary TG, Kubiak TM. Functional expression and characterization of the C. elegans G-protein-coupled FLP-2 Receptor (T19F4.1) in mammalian cells and yeast. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR PARASITOLOGY-DRUGS AND DRUG RESISTANCE 2012; 3:1-7. [PMID: 24533288 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpddr.2012.10.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/13/2012] [Revised: 10/25/2012] [Accepted: 10/29/2012] [Indexed: 01/16/2023]
Abstract
Profound neuropeptide diversity characterizes the nematode nervous system, but it has proven challenging to match neuropeptide G protein-coupled receptors (GPCR) with their cognate ligands in heterologous systems. We have expressed the Caenorhabditis elegans GPCR encoded in the locus T19F4.1, previously matched with FMRFamide-like peptides encoded on the flp-2 precursor gene, in mammalian cells and in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Pharmacological characterization revealed that the receptor is potently activated by flp-2 peptides in CHO cells (∼10 nM EC50) and in yeast (∼100 nM EC50), signaling through a Gqα pathway in each system. The yeast GPCR expression system provides a robust assay for screening for agonists of the flp-2 receptor and is the target of an ongoing high-throughput screening exercise.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martha J Larsen
- Pfizer Animal Health Discovery Research, Veterinary Medicine Discovery Research, Kalamazoo, MI 49001, USA
| | - Elizabeth Ruiz Lancheros
- Institute of Parasitology, McGill University, 21,111 Lakeshore Road, Ste-Anne de Bellevue, Quebec, Canada H9X 3V9
| | - Tracey Williams
- Pfizer Animal Health Discovery Research, Veterinary Medicine Discovery Research, Kalamazoo, MI 49001, USA
| | - David E Lowery
- Pfizer Animal Health Discovery Research, Veterinary Medicine Discovery Research, Kalamazoo, MI 49001, USA
| | - Timothy G Geary
- Pfizer Animal Health Discovery Research, Veterinary Medicine Discovery Research, Kalamazoo, MI 49001, USA
| | - Teresa M Kubiak
- Pfizer Animal Health Discovery Research, Veterinary Medicine Discovery Research, Kalamazoo, MI 49001, USA
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Geary TG, Chibale K, Abegaz B, Andrae-Marobela K, Ubalijoro E. A new approach for anthelmintic discovery for humans. Trends Parasitol 2012; 28:176-81. [DOI: 10.1016/j.pt.2012.02.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2011] [Revised: 02/09/2012] [Accepted: 02/10/2012] [Indexed: 01/25/2023]
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Gasser RB, Cantacessi C. Heartworm genomics: unprecedented opportunities for fundamental molecular insights and new intervention strategies. Top Companion Anim Med 2012; 26:193-9. [PMID: 22152607 DOI: 10.1053/j.tcam.2011.09.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
Vector-borne diseases, including canine heartworm disease (CHWD), are of major socioeconomic and canine health importance worldwide. Although many studies have provided insights into CHWD, to date there has been limited study of fundamental molecular aspects of Dirofilaria immitis itself, its relationship with the canine host, its vectors, as well as the potential of drug resistance to emerge, using advanced -omic technologies. This article takes a prospective view of the benefits that advanced -omics technologies will have toward understanding D. immitis and CHWD. Tackling key biological questions using these technologies will provide a "systems biology" context and could lead to radically new intervention and management strategies against heartworm.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robin B Gasser
- Faculty of Veterinary Science, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3010, Australia.
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Gasser RB, Cantacessi C, Campbell BE, Hofmann A, Otranto D. Major prospects for exploring canine vector borne diseases and novel intervention methods using 'omic technologies. Parasit Vectors 2011; 4:53. [PMID: 21489242 PMCID: PMC3095997 DOI: 10.1186/1756-3305-4-53] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2011] [Accepted: 04/13/2011] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Canine vector-borne diseases (CVBDs) are of major socioeconomic importance worldwide. Although many studies have provided insights into CVBDs, there has been limited exploration of fundamental molecular aspects of most pathogens, their vectors, pathogen-host relationships and disease and drug resistance using advanced, 'omic technologies. The aim of the present article is to take a prospective view of the impact that next-generation, 'omics technologies could have, with an emphasis on describing the principles of transcriptomic/genomic sequencing as well as bioinformatic technologies and their implications in both fundamental and applied areas of CVBD research. Tackling key biological questions employing these technologies will provide a 'systems biology' context and could lead to radically new intervention and management strategies against CVBDs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robin B Gasser
- Department of Veterinary Science, The University of Melbourne, 250 Princes Highway, Werribee, Victoria 3030, Australia
| | - Cinzia Cantacessi
- Department of Veterinary Science, The University of Melbourne, 250 Princes Highway, Werribee, Victoria 3030, Australia
| | - Bronwyn E Campbell
- Department of Veterinary Science, The University of Melbourne, 250 Princes Highway, Werribee, Victoria 3030, Australia
| | - Andreas Hofmann
- Structural Chemistry Program, Eskitis Institute for Cell & Molecular Therapies, Griffith University, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Domenico Otranto
- Dipartimento di Sanità Pubblica e Zootecnia, Facoltà di Medicina Veterinaria, Università di Bari, Str. prov. le per Casamassima Km 3, 70010, Valenzano, Bari, Italy
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