The acetylcholine-gated chloride channel gene family in parasitic nematodes

寄生虫感染在发展中国家和北美造成相当大的疾病负担。目前，唯一的控制方法是使用杀线虫剂。然而，尽管对人类和家畜造成了重大的疾病负担，而且耐药性的发生率也在上升，但可用的治疗方法相对较少。因此，发现和鉴定新的杀线虫靶点，既能降低人类寄生虫的发病率，又能保持对牲畜寄生虫的控制，将具有深远的全球意义。最近完成的几个寄生线虫基因组现在提供了一个机会，开始全面搜索潜在的新的和独特的杀线虫靶点，同时增加了我们对这些重要病原体生物学的理解。有一个被称为cys-loop受体的大家族，由于它们对寄生线虫的神经系统很重要，并且该家族的一些成员仅在无脊椎动物中发现，因此具有作为新型杀线虫剂的良好潜力。

Infection with parasitic nematodes causes considerable disease burden in developing countries as well as North America.  Currently, the only method of control is through the use of nematocides.  However, despite the significant disease burden for both humans and domestic animals and rising incidences of drug resistance there are relatively few treatments available.  Therefore, the discovery and characterization of new nematocidal targets to both reduce the morbidity caused by human parasites as well as maintain the control of parasites of livestock will have far reaching global implications.  The recent completion of several parasitic nematode genomes has now provided an opportunity to begin a comprehensive search for potential new and unique nematocidal targets while at the same time increasing our understanding of the biology of these important pathogens. There is a large family of receptors called cys-loop receptors that have good potential as targets for new nematocides since they are important for the nervous system of parasitic nematodes and several members of this family are found only in invertebrates.