Molecular pharmacology of insect ion channels and implications for insect toxicology

Abstract

Safe insecticides are essential if agriculture is to generate adequate supplies of high quality food, maintain the health of farm animals and ensure that human populations secure effective control of major disease vectors. Insect central and peripheral nervous systems contain important molecular targets of chemicals used to control insects. Insecticides with new modes of actions are under development, and several major new target molecules are emerging. Meanwhile, resistance to the current generation of insecticides continues to develop, restricting the long-term utility of these valuable chemicals. Also, methods for investigating the mechanisms of action, safety, and resistance are advancing at an accelerated pace. Modern insecticides offer improved selectivity for the target organism and understanding the mechanisms responsible may yield a future generation of effective control chemicals with reduced environmental impact. The 11th International Congress of Pesticide Chemistry (ICPC), which took place in Kobe, Japan from 6 to 11 August in 2006, chose this year as an opportune time to revisit current developments at the leading edge of research on the molecular pharmacology of ion channels targeted by insect control chemicals. This was the 2nd ICPC meeting to be held in Japan. An earlier symposium was held in Kyoto in 1982. Thus, two of us (Kazuhiko Matsuda of Kinki University, Nara and Yoshihisa Ozoe of Shimane University, Matsue) planned to invite world-leading scientists to Kinki University School of Agriculture (Fig. 1) for a satellite symposium entitled ‘‘Frontiers in Molecular Neurotoxicology’’ on August 4 prior to the start of ICPC 2006. The venue for the meeting, Kinki University School of Agriculture, is located about 6 miles west of the historical city of Nara. The city was built as the capital of Japan in 710 and still today contains many World Heritage sites, notably Todai-ji Temple, Kofukuji Temple, Kasuga-Taisha-Shrine, Gango-ji Temple, Yakushi-ji Temple, Toshodai-ji Temple, Nara Palace Site and Kasugayama Primeval Forest. Kinki University consists of 11 schools and 44 departments and was founded as the Osaka Technical College in 1925. The University started with the School of Engineering and the School of Commerce, both of which have grown to become the modern School of Business and Economics. Its strong links with Agriculture were developed in the second half of the twentieth century and the School of Agriculture was introduced in 1958. In 1989, the location of the School of Agriculture moved from Higashi Osaka to Nara. The aim of the 2006 symposium was to enhance our understanding of the current status and future perspectives in the field of molecular pharmacology of primarily insect ion channels. Authors have adopted various approaches, often in combination, and these K. Matsuda (&) Department of Applied Biological Chemistry, School of Agriculture, Kinki University, 3327-204, Nakamachi, Nara 631-8505, Japan e-mail: kmatsuda@nara.kindai.ac.jp