MOLECULAR BASIS OF ANESTHESIA IN APLYSIA NEURONS

挥发性麻醉剂代表了一些临床上最重要的药物 在当前使用中。 它们用于产生可逆的 意识，从而导致对疼痛和其他感官的不敏感 刺激. 很明显，麻醉剂一定会干扰正常的功能 神经元突触运作的基础， perception. 因此，研究他们的行动， 阐明重要的神经生理功能。 另一个引人注目 麻醉作用的一个方面是，与其他药物不同， 显示出对巨大的影响和力量的显着恒定性 进化跨度 这一事实表明， 麻醉剂是高度保守的。 我们利用了这一点 通过研究麻醉剂在明确定义的 软体动物的神经系统，加州阿氏藻。 由于我们的 在最初的实验中，我们发现麻醉剂可以抑制某些 自发放电的神经元在失智症的机制， 激活电压非依赖性钾通道。 我们有 通过几个标准将该通道确定为S-K+通道。 目前，我们正在研究这种激活的机制， 发生。 这种表征将导致离子通道的隔离 通过分子克隆，这反过来将使我们能够寻找相关的 离子通道在更复杂的哺乳动物中枢神经系统。 本研究的意义主要体现在三个方面：（1） 有助于阐明全身麻醉作用的分子基础;（2）它 将导致更好地理解突触的运作， （3）有助于开发更特异的麻醉药。

Volatile anesthetic represent some of the most clinically important drugs in currents use. They are used to produce reversible interruption of consciousness and thereby induce insensitivity to pain and other sensory stimulation. Clearly, anesthetic must interfere with the proper function of precesses fundamental to the operation of synapses involved in perception. Thus, the study of their action has great promise for elucidating important neurophysiologic functions. Another striking aspects of anesthetic action is that, unlike other drugs, anesthetics display a remarkable constancy of effect and potency over enormous evolutionary span. This fact suggests that the site of action of anesthetics has been highly conserved. We have made use of this observation by studying the effect of anesthetics in the well defined nervous system of the mollusc, Aplysia californica. As a results of our initial experiments, we have found that anesthetics silence certain spontaneously firing neurons in Aplysia by a mechanism that involves activation of a voltage-independent potassium channel. We have identified this channel as the S-K+ channel by several criteria. Currently, we are investigating the mechanism by which this activation occurs. This characterization will lead to isolation of the ion channel by molecular cloning that in turn will allow us to search for related ions channels in the far more complex mammalian central nervous system. This propose research is important from three perspectives: (1) it will help elucidate the molecular basis of general anesthetic action; (2) it will lead to a greater understanding of the operation of synapses in the CNS; (3) it will help in the development of more specific anesthetics.