The neuromuscular sodium currents of early invertebrates such as platyhelminths display distinctive kinetic and pharmacological properties. We have cloned a cDNA from the horseshoe crab flatworm Bdelloura candida that encodes a protein homologous to the primary subunit of voltage-gated sodium channels. The B. candida protein, named BdNa1, exhibits amino acid identity of 40-47% to sodium channels of vertebrates and higher invertebrates. BdNa1 has the multidomain structure characteristic of sodium channels, and is most highly conserved in the hydrophobic transmembrane segments and the regions that form the pore of the channel. Northern blot analysis confirms the presence of a 5.4 kb BdNa1 transcript in B. candida tissue. The information provided by analysis of the BdNa1 sequence offers insight into the physiology of platyhelminth sodium currents.
Amino Acid Sequence Animals