Obtention of natural membranes enriched with GABAA receptor from disease vector insects (Aedes aegypti and triatoma infestans)

FELSZTYNA, IVÁN; COLMANO, GUILLERMO NICOLÁS; TURINA, ANAHÍ DEL VALLE; SÁNCHEZ-BORZONE, MARIELA EUGENIA; MIGUEL, VIRGINIA; GARCÍA, DANIEL A.

Buenos Aires

Congreso; Reunión Conjunta de Sociedades de Biociencias; 2017

Sociedades de Biociencias

γ-aminobuyric acid (GABA) is the major inhibitory neurotransmitterin the vertebrate CNS. Its specifc receptor, the GABAA receptor (GABAA-R), is constituted by fve subunits which compose achloride channel. In mammalian organisms there is a wide diversityof receptor subunits, while in insects this variety is considerablyminor, being the so-called RDL the most representative subunit.Considering that the receptor subunit composition is critical for thepharmacological and biophysical properties of GABAA-Rs, functionaland structural differences between receptors from mammalsand insects provide multiple opportunities for the design of moreselective and non-toxic insecticides. Considering this argument, inthe present work we obtained insect natural membranes as a sourceof GABAA-Rs to be used in the search of new insecticide agents.The membranes were extracted from the head-thorax portion of A. aegypti larvae (IV stage) or T. infestans nymphs (V stage), bydifferential centrifugation procedures. Protein electrophoretic proflescontained in the purifed membranes showed bands with MW similar to those described for GABAA-Rs from other insects. In addition, wealso determined the presence of GABAA-Rs in the samples by usingradiolabeled ligands which recognize specifc sites in the receptor.All these results indicate that, through the procedures used in thework, it is possible to obtain natural membranes enriched in nativeGABAA-Rs from insects, which could be utilized for the evaluation ofcompounds able to block the receptor channel, with a consequentpotential insecticidal activity.