Increased persistent Na+ current contributes to seizure in the slamdance bang-sensitive Drosophila mutant.

ABSTRACT: There is clinical need to extend the understanding of epilepsy and to find novel approaches to treat this condition. Bang-sensitive (bs) Drosophila mutants, which exhibit reduced thresholds for seizure, offer an attractive possibility to combine tractable genetics, electrophysiology, and high-throughput screening. However, despite these advantages, the precise electrophysiological aberrations that contribute to seizure have not been identified in any bs mutant. Because of this, the applicability of Drosophila as a preclinical model has not yet been established. In this study, we show that electroshock of bs slamdance (sda) larvae was sufficient to induce extended seizure-like episodes. Whole cell voltage-clamp recordings from identified motoneurons (termed aCC and RP2) showed synaptic curr

SUBMITTER: Marley R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3129721 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature