A COMPREHENSIVE RESOURCE BASE OF C. ELEGANS K+ CHANNELS

描述（由申请人提供）： 梭线虫基因组包含由70多个成员组成的钾通道的扩展基因家族。 在这些基因中有一个古老的保守的钾通道“集”，在人类和果蝇中都有直系同源物。 这些保守基因中有许多是心脏生理学、神经功能、肾脏和消化系统疾病等领域的研究人员感兴趣的。 因此，C.线虫具有成为几乎所有领域基础研究的有价值的模型系统的潜力，其中可激发膜和离子电流是重要的。 研究人员建议建立一个资源库，其中包括适合在哺乳动物细胞系和非洲爪蟾卵母细胞中功能表达的载体中的全长钾通道cDNA克隆，以及基因KO菌株的库存。 支持这一资源基础的将是显示通道的基本生物物理特性的研究，显示KO突变体的表型的研究和每个通道的细胞类型表达模式的信息。 这个综合项目的许多方面将直接指导哺乳动物的研究，并应提供一个替代模型系统，适用于各种各样的研究人员在基础和应用研究。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The C. elegans genome contains an extended gene family of potassium channels consisting of more than seventy members. Among these genes are an ancient conserved "set" of potassium channels with orthologues in both humans and Drosophila. Many of these conserved genes are of interest to researchers working in fields as diverse as cardiac physiology, neurological function, and kidney and digestive disorders. Thus, C. elegans has the potential of being a valuable model system for basic research in virtually all fields where excitable membranes and ion currents are important. The investigators propose to create a resource base that will include full-length potassium channel cDNA clones in vectors suitable for functional expression in mammalian cell lines and Xenopus oocytes, and stocks of gene KO strains. Supporting this resource base will be studies showing the basic biophysical properties of the channels, studies showing the phenotypes of KO mutants and information on the cell-type expression patterns of each channel. Many aspects of this comprehensive project will directly guide studies in mammals and should offer an alternative model system applicable to a wide variety of researchers in both basic and applied research.