Several types of fly mutants with epileptic phenotypes are currently used in modeling seizures. The so-called "bang-sensitive" mutants exhibit seizures and paralysis upon mechanical stimuli; seizures can be suppressed by the administration of anticonvulsant drugs. Seizure-suppressor mutants include Sh, shakB and para.
Fly stocks in the Bloomington collection that can be used to study seizure disorders and epilepsy are listed here (see also the page for Galphao-related epilepsies).
Be aware that, over the generations, stocks carrying alleles of these genes can pick up modifiers that suppress the phenotype. You may need to outcross or "clean up" chromosomes to see phenotypes described in papers.
| fly gene | human gene or gene type | gene 'category' in flies |
|---|---|---|
| Citrate synthase 1 (Cs1, aka kdn) | citrate synthase (CS) | bang-sensitive |
| couch potato (cpo) | RNA binding protein with multiple splicing 2 (RBPMS2) | bang-sensitive |
| easily shocked (eas) | ethanolamine kinase (ETNK1) | bang-sensitive |
| ether a go-go (eag) | voltage-gated potassium channels, subfamily H (e.g. KCNH5) | bang-sensitive |
| jitterbug (jbug) | filamins | bang-sensitive |
| kazachoc (kcc) | potassium/chloride transporters - solute carrier family 12 (e.g. SLC12A4) | bang-sensitive |
| Letm1 | LETM1 | |
| paralytic (para) | voltage-gated sodium channel, type III (SCN3A) | temperature-sensitive paralytic |
| seizure (sei) | voltage-gated potassium channel, subfamily H (e.g. KCNH2) | temperature-sensitive paralytic |
| Shaker (Sh) | voltage-gated potassium channels, shaker-related (e.g. KCNA3) | uncoordinated/behavior defective |
| shaking B (shakB) | gap junction proteins | uncoordinated/behavior defective |
| julius seizure (jus) | transmembrane domain protein | bang-sensitive |
| slowpoke (slo) | large conductance calcium-activated potassium channels (e.g. KCNMA1) | temperature-sensitive paralytic |
| stress-sensitive B (sesB) | adenine nucleotide translocator, solute carrier family 25 (e.g. SLC25A4) | bang-sensitive |
| technical knockout (tko) | mitochondrial ribosomal protein S12 (MRPS12) | bang-sensitive |