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Rescue of easily shocked mutant seizure sensitivity in drosophila adults
Author(s) -
Kroll Jason R.,
Tanouye Mark A.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
journal of comparative neurology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.855
H-Index - 209
eISSN - 1096-9861
pISSN - 0021-9967
DOI - 10.1002/cne.23364
Subject(s) - biology , neuroscience , mutant , epilepsy , biological neural network , phenotype , inhibitory postsynaptic potential , excitatory postsynaptic potential , gene , genetics
Genetic factors that influence seizure susceptibility can act transiently during the development of neural circuits or might be necessary for the proper functioning of existing circuits. We provide evidence that the Drosophila seizure‐sensitive mutant easily shocked ( eas ) represents a neurological disorder in which abnormal functioning of existing neural circuits leads to seizure sensitivity. The eas + gene encodes for the protein Ethanolamine Kinase, involved in phospholipid biosynthesis. We show that induction of eas + in adult mutant flies rescues them from seizure sensitivity despite previously known developmental defects in brain morphology. Additionally, through cell‐type‐specific rescue, our results suggest a specific role for eas + in excitatory rather than inhibitory neural transmission. Overall, our findings emphasize an important role for proper phospholipid metabolism in normal brain function and suggest that certain classes of epilepsy syndromes could have the potential to be treated with gene therapy techniques. J. Comp. Neurol. 521:3500‐3507, 2013. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.