Risley Monica G, Kelly Stephanie P, Dawson-Scully Ken
Department of Biological Sciences, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, USA.
International Max Planck Research School (IMPRS) for Brain and Behavior, Boca Raton, USA.
Bio Protoc. 2017 May 5;7(9):e2270. doi: 10.21769/BioProtoc.2270.
The nematode is a useful model organism for dissecting molecular mechanisms of neurological diseases. While hermaphrodite contains only 302 neurons, the conserved homologous neurotransmitters, simpler neuronal circuitry, and fully mapped connectome make it an appealing model system for neurological research. Here we developed an assay to induce an electroconvulsive seizure in which can be used as a behavioral method of analyzing potential anti-epileptic therapeutics and novel genes involved in seizure susceptibility. In this assay, worms are suspended in an aqueous solution as current is passed through the liquid. At the onset of the shock, worms will briefly paralyze and twitch, and shortly after regain normal sinusoidal locomotion. The time to locomotor recovery is used as a metric of recovery from a seizure which can be reduced or extended by incorporating drugs that alter neuronal and muscular excitability.
线虫是用于剖析神经疾病分子机制的有用模式生物。虽然雌雄同体线虫仅含有302个神经元，但保守的同源神经递质、更简单的神经元回路以及完全绘制的连接体使其成为神经学研究中一个有吸引力的模式系统。在这里，我们开发了一种在[线虫名称未给出]中诱导惊厥发作的试验，该试验可作为一种行为方法，用于分析潜在的抗癫痫治疗药物以及与癫痫易感性相关的新基因。在该试验中，当电流通过液体时，线虫悬浮在水溶液中。在电击开始时，线虫会短暂麻痹并抽搐，随后不久恢复正常的正弦运动。运动恢复时间用作从癫痫发作中恢复的指标，通过加入改变神经元和肌肉兴奋性的药物，该时间可以缩短或延长。
