RESUMEN
Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) are the binding sites for nicotinoid drugs, such as nicotine and epibatidine, and are the molecular targets of the selectively insecticidal neonicotinoids. In this study we report the full length cDNA cloning of the three Ctenocephalides (C.) felis (cat flea) nAChR α subunits Cfα1, Cfα2, and Cfα3. When expressed in Xenopus oocytes as hybrid receptors with the Gallus gallus (chicken) ß2 (Ggß2) subunit, these cat flea α subunits formed acetylcholine-responsive ion channels. Acetylcholine-evoked currents of Cfα2/Ggß2 were resistant to α-bungarotoxin, while those of Cfα1/Ggß2 were sensitive to this snake toxin. The pharmacological profiles of Cfα1/Ggß2, Cfα2/Ggß2 and the chicken neuronal receptor Ggα4/Ggß2 for acetylcholine, two nicotinoids and 6 insecticidal neonicotinoids were determined and compared. Particularly remarkable was the finding that Cfα1/Ggß2 was far more sensitive to acetylcholine, nicotine and neonicotinoid agonists than either Cfα2/Ggß2 or Ggα4/Ggß2: for the anti flea neonicotinoid market compound imidacloprid the respective EC50s were 0.02 µM, 1.31 µM and 10 µM. These results were confirmed for another insect species, Drosophila melanogaster, where the pharmacological profile of the Dmα1 and Dmα2 subunits as hybrid receptors with Ggß2 in Xenopus oocyte expressions resulted in a similar sensitivity pattern as those identified for the C. felis orthologs. Our results show that at least in a Ggß2 hybrid receptor setting, insect α1 subunits confer higher sensitivity to neonicotinoids than α2 subunits, which may contribute in vivo to the insect-selective action of this pesticide class.