A NEUROTRANSMITTER TRANSPORTER ENCODED BY THE DROSOPHILA INEBRIATED GENE

Citation
H. Soehnge et al., A NEUROTRANSMITTER TRANSPORTER ENCODED BY THE DROSOPHILA INEBRIATED GENE, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United Statesof America, 93(23), 1996, pp. 13262-13267
Citations number
42
Categorie Soggetti
Multidisciplinary Sciences
ISSN journal
00278424
Volume
93
Issue
23
Year of publication
1996
Pages
13262 - 13267
Database
ISI
SICI code
0027-8424(1996)93:23<13262:ANTEBT>2.0.ZU;2-#
Abstract
Behavioral and electrophysiological studies on mutants defective in th e Drosophila inebriated (ine) gene demonstrated increased excitability of the motor neuron, In this paper, we describe the cloning and seque nce analysis of inc, Mutations in ine were localized on cloned DNA by restriction mapping and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP ) mapping of ine mutants, DNA from the ine region was then used to iso late an inc cDNA, In situ hybridization of ine transcripts to developi ng embryos revealed expression of this gene in several cell types, inc luding the posterior hindgut, Malpighian tubules, anal plate, garland cells, and a subset of cells in the central nervous system. The ine cD NA contains an open reading frame of 658 amino acids with a high degre e of sequence similarity to members of the Na+/Cl--dependent neurotran smitter transporter family, Members of this family catalyze the rapid reuptake of neurotransmitters released into the synapse and thereby pl ay key roles in controlling neuronal function. We conclude that ine mu tations cause increased excitability of the Drosophila motor neuron by causing the defective reuptake of the substrate neurotransmitter of t he ine transporter and thus overstimulation of the motor neuron by thi s neurotransmitter, From this observation comes a unique opportunity t o perform a genetic dissection of the regulation of excitability of th e Drosophila motor neuron.