Analysis of molecular and cellular actions of general anesthetics on inhibitory synaptic transmission using genetically altered animals.

基因改造小鼠对分析全身麻醉药和镇痛药作用的分子和细胞机制非常有用。使用GFP敲入小鼠，我们检测了七氟醚对发育中的大脑的影响，重点关注gaba能神经元。此外，我们还研究了水泡状GABA转运蛋白（VGAT）下调对小鼠痛阈和行为反应的可能影响。我们的研究结果提供了遗传学、行为学和电生理学的证据，证明脊髓中vgat介导的抑制性驱动的减少改变了非常特殊的感觉加工形式：那些与疼痛加工有关的感觉加工。

Genetically altered mice are very useful to analyze the molecular and cellular mechanisms of actions of general anesthetics and analgesics. Using GFP knock-in mice, we examined the effects of sevoflurane exposure to the developing brain, focusing on GABAergic neurons. In addition, we also investigated the possible influence of downregulation of vesicular GABA transporter(VGAT) on pain threshold and behavioral responses in mice. Our results provide genetic, behavioral and electrophysiological evidence that reduction of VGAT-mediated inhibitory drive in the spinal cord alters very specific forms of sensory processing : those related to pain processing.