Neuropeptide Systems As Targets for Parasite and Pest Control

This book was assembled to focus attention on this promising field by compiling a comprehensive review of recent research on neuropeptides in arthropods and helminths, with contributions from many of the leading laboratories working on these systems. The organization of the chapters is intended to provide an overview of the organism-level biology of neuropeptidergic function in insects and helminths, progressing to an understanding of the molecular biology of the genes that encode their precursors and receptors in these organisms. We include for perspective consideration of the state of the art in discovery of insecticides and anthelmintics, a review of drugs that affect similar systems in nematodes, and a summary of drug discovery efforts that target mammalian neuropeptide receptors for therapy of non-infectious diseases in humans.

TIMOTHY G. GEARY is a Tier I Canada Research Chair and is Professor and Director of the Institute of Parasitology at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Geary received a BSc degree from the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, IN (USA) and a PhD in Pharmacology from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, MI (USA, 1980). He worked on malaria chemotherapy at Michigan State University in East Lansing, MI (USA) until 1985, when he joined The Upjohn Company in Kalamazoo, MI (USA) as a staff scientist working on discovery of antiparasitic drugs. Geary joined the Faculty at McGill in 2005; research interests include proteomics and genomics analyses of the host-parasite interface, discovery of anthelmintics and the pharmacology of antiparasitic drugs.AARON G. MAULE is a Director of Research for Molecular Biosciences and Professor of Molecular Parasitology at Queen’s University Belfast, Northern Ireland. Maule was awarded a BSc(Hons) in Biology (1986) and a PhD in Experimental Parasitology (1989) at Queen’s where he began working on parasite neuromuscular systems. He focused on molecular aspects of parasite neurobiology during postdoctoral positions at Queen’s and at The Upjohn Company in Kalamazoo, MI (USA). Maule returned to Queen’s as a member of academic staff in 1995 to pursue the basic biology of helminth signaling systems. Research interests include parasite neurobiology and the development and exploitation of gene silencing platforms for target validation and parasite control.