Gene that Protects against Heat-Induced Seizures in Fruit Flies May Explain Seizures in Humans (IMAGE)
Caption
A gene that encode an ion channel enables flies to resist the effects of acute heat stress. As suggested by its name, mutation in the gene seizure (sei for short) cause flies to become highly sensitive to heat stress. When ambient temperature goes up rapidly, wild type flies are able to escape these unfavorable conditions. In contrast, mutant flies are hypersensitive to heat and start seizing almost immediately. Hill et al. now show that the protective effect of sei comes from its activity in specific populations and neurons and glia cells in the fly brain. Shown are the neurons in the ventral ganglion of the fly (a structure homologous to the spinal cord), which express the sei protein (green). All other neurons are shown in magenta. The nuclei of all cells in the nerve cord are in blue.
Credit
Dr. Alexis Hill
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