Conserved Role of unc-79 in Ethanol Responses in Lightweight Mutant Mice

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Speca, DJ; Chihara, D; Ashique, AM; Bowers, MS; Pierce-Shimomura, JT; Lee, J; Rabbee, N; Speed, TP; Gularte, RJ; Chitwood, J; ...Date
2010-08-01Source Title
PLoS GeneticsPublisher
PUBLIC LIBRARY SCIENCEUniversity of Melbourne Author/s
Speed, TerenceAffiliation
School of Mathematics and StatisticsMetadata
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Speca, D. J., Chihara, D., Ashique, A. M., Bowers, M. S., Pierce-Shimomura, J. T., Lee, J., Rabbee, N., Speed, T. P., Gularte, R. J., Chitwood, J., Medrano, J. F., Liao, M., Sonner, J. M., Eger, E. I., Peterson, A. S. & McIntire, S. L. (2010). Conserved Role of unc-79 in Ethanol Responses in Lightweight Mutant Mice. PLOS GENETICS, 6 (8), https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1001057.Access Status
Open AccessAbstract
The mechanisms by which ethanol and inhaled anesthetics influence the nervous system are poorly understood. Here we describe the positional cloning and characterization of a new mouse mutation isolated in an N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea (ENU) forward mutagenesis screen for animals with enhanced locomotor activity. This allele, Lightweight (Lwt), disrupts the homolog of the Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) unc-79 gene. While Lwt/Lwt homozygotes are perinatal lethal, Lightweight heterozygotes are dramatically hypersensitive to acute ethanol exposure. Experiments in C. elegans demonstrate a conserved hypersensitivity to ethanol in unc-79 mutants and extend this observation to the related unc-80 mutant and nca-1;nca-2 double mutants. Lightweight heterozygotes also exhibit an altered response to the anesthetic isoflurane, reminiscent of unc-79 invertebrate mutant phenotypes. Consistent with our initial mapping results, Lightweight heterozygotes are mildly hyperactive when exposed to a novel environment and are smaller than wild-type animals. In addition, Lightweight heterozygotes exhibit increased food consumption yet have a leaner body composition. Interestingly, Lightweight heterozygotes voluntarily consume more ethanol than wild-type littermates. The acute hypersensitivity to and increased voluntary consumption of ethanol observed in Lightweight heterozygous mice in combination with the observed hypersensitivity to ethanol in C. elegans unc-79, unc-80, and nca-1;nca-2 double mutants suggests a novel conserved pathway that might influence alcohol-related behaviors in humans.
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