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Journal of Neuroscience, Vol 15, 8408-8418, Copyright © 1995 by Society for Neuroscience

ARTICLE

Mutations in the Caenorhabditis elegans Na,K-ATPase alpha-subunit gene, eat-6, disrupt excitable cell function

MW Davis, D Somerville, RY Lee, S Lockery, L Avery and DM Fambrough
Department of Biochemistry, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas 75235-9038, USA.

We have cloned a Na,K-ATPase alpha-subunit gene from Caenorhabditis elegans and discovered that it is identical to the gene eat-6, eat-6 mutations cause feeble contractions and slow, delayed relaxations of pharyngeal muscle. The resting membrane potential of eat-6 mutant pharynxes is consistently depolarized compared to wild-type. The action potentials are smaller, and the return to resting potential is slower. To explain these abnormalities, we propose that a reduction of Na,K- ATPase activity in eat-6 mutants leads to a reduction of the ion concentration gradients that power membrane potential changes.

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