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The serotonin effect in the neuromuscular function of Echinococcus granulosus and other cestodes: Potential role of serotonergic GPCRsCamicia, Federico; Vaca, Hugo; Simonetta, Sergio; Kamentezky, Laura; Maldonado, Lucas; Rosenzvit, Mara.The serotonin effect in the neuromuscular function of Echinococcus granulosus and other cestodes: Potential role of serotonergic GPCRsCamicia, Federico; Vaca, Hugo; Simonetta, Sergio; Kamentezky, Laura; Maldonado, Lucas; Rosenzvit, Mara.Cestode parasites are a diverse group of organisms, many of them are cause of neglected zoonoses with major impact in local health and global economy. The adecuate nerve function is essential for the parasitic way of life and is a target for cestocide drugs. The sequencing of the genome and transcriptomic of E. granulosus in a work in wich our group participates (Tsai y col., 2013) and the motor response to serotonin (5-HT) in the larval stage (Camicia y col., 2013) suggests the existence of serotonergic GPCRs in this parasite. In this work, we propose the existence of an important role for 5-HT in the neuromuscular function of cestode parasites and the stimulatory effect observed could be mediated by serotonergic GPCRs. The bioinformatics search of this kind of receptors in cestode parasites like Mesocestoides corti, Taenia solium, E. granulosus and Echinococcus multilocularis resulted in the interesting finding of conserved sequences with amino acid identity with serotonergic GPCRs. The addition of 5-HT to the larval stages of M. Corti and Taenia Crassiceps resulted in the stimulation of the motility measured by differents techniques in a dose dependent mode. The motility curves showed an specific response to the neurotransmitter according to the species in question and this result suggest the intervention of different types of serotonergic GPCRs for every species. The identification of survival genes will be of great impact for the development of cestocide drugs.