Colleen Malone and Andrew Nguyen

Abstract:

Neurons possess proteins called ion channels. The flow of ions through channels generates electrical signals, which in turn control an animal’s behavior. Hundreds of channel subtypes have been identified and usually are conserved across many animal taxa. Individual neurons typically possess a unique combination of channels, imparting a distinct set of electrical properties and functional role within the nervous system. To investigate how ion channels are distributed within an invertebrate nervous system we used a technique called in situ hybridization (ISH). This method requires generation of an RNA probe that targets the mRNA coding for a channel subtype of interest. This poster presents our ISH results using a newly-created probe for a voltage-gated potassium channel from the EAG (ether-a-go-go) family.