Nature Communications (Dec 2017)

The anthelmintic praziquantel is a human serotoninergic G-protein-coupled receptor ligand

  • John D. Chan,
  • Pauline M. Cupit,
  • Gihan S. Gunaratne,
  • John D. McCorvy,
  • Yang Yang,
  • Kristen Stoltz,
  • Thomas R. Webb,
  • Peter I. Dosa,
  • Bryan L. Roth,
  • Ruben Abagyan,
  • Charles Cunningham,
  • Jonathan S. Marchant

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-017-02084-0
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 8, no. 1
pp. 1 – 7

Abstract

Read online

Schistosomiasis is caused by infection with the flatworm Schistosoma, and praziquantel is the drug of choice for its treatment. Here, Chan and colleagues identify praziquantel as a ligand for the human serotoninergic 5-HT2B G-protein-coupled receptor, and reveal a function for praziquantel as a regulator of vascular tone in treated hosts.