Two allelic isoforms of the serotonin transporter from Schistosoma mansoni display electrogenic transport and high selectivity for serotonin.

ABSTRACT: The human blood fluke Schistosoma mansoni is the primary cause of schistosomiasis, a debilitating disease that affects 200 million individuals in over 70 countries. The biogenic amine serotonin is essential for the survival of the parasite and serotonergic proteins are potential novel drug targets for treating schistosomiasis. Here we characterize two novel serotonin transporter gene transcripts, SmSERT-A and SmSERT-B, from S.mansoni. Southern blot analysis shows that the two mRNAs are the products of different alleles of a single SmSERT gene locus. The two SmSERT forms differ in three amino acid positions near the N-terminus of the protein. Both SmSERTs are expressed in the adult form and in the sporocyst form (infected snails) of the parasite, but are absent from all other stages of the

SUBMITTER: Fontana AC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2746412 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature