Progress interrogating TRPMPZQ as the target of praziquantel.

Jonathan S Marchant

PLoS neglected tropical diseases 2024 Feb

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The drug praziquantel (PZQ) has served as the long-standing drug therapy for treatment of infections caused by parasitic flatworms. These encompass diseases caused by parasitic blood, lung, and liver flukes, as well as various tapeworm infections. Despite a history of clinical usage spanning over 4 decades, the parasite target of PZQ has long resisted identification. However, a flatworm transient receptor potential ion channel from the melastatin subfamily (TRPMPZQ) was recently identified as a target for PZQ action. Here, recent experimental progress interrogating TRPMPZQ is evaluated, encompassing biochemical, pharmacological, genetic, and comparative phylogenetic data that highlight the properties of this ion channel. Various lines of evidence that support TRPMPZQ being the therapeutic target of PZQ are presented, together with additional priorities for further research into the mechanism of action of this important clinical drug. Copyright: © 2024 Jonathan S. Marchant. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.