A single amino acid change makes a rat neuronal sodium channel highly sensitive to pyrethroid insecticides.

Two amino acid substitutions in a housefly sodium channel, L1014F in domain IIS6 and M918T in the IIS4-S5 linker, have been identified in kdr and super-kdr pyrethroid-resistant phenotypes, respectively. Unlike their native insect counterparts, mammalian sodium channels are only weakly sensitive to pyrethroids. Do the sodium channels of mammal and pyrethroid-resistant housefly share similar structural characteristics that account for their low pyrethroid sensitivities? We report here that substitution of isoleucine for methionine at position 874 (equivalent to the super-kdr site 918 in the housefly) in the rat IIA alpha-subunit causes a 100-fold increase in sensitivity.