Alpha-conotoxin ImI disrupts central control of swimming in the medicinal leech

NEUROSCIENCE LETTERS

卷:485

Article

Wagenaar, Daniel A.^1,2  Gonzalez, Ruben³  Ries, David C.³  Kristan, William B., Jr.³  French, Kathleen A.³ 

[1] CALTECH, Broad Fellows Program, Pasadena, CA 91125 USA

[2] CALTECH, Div Biol, Pasadena, CA 91125 USA

[3] Univ Calif San Diego, Div Biol, Neurosci Sect, La Jolla, CA 92093 USA

关键词: Swimming;    Central pattern generator;    Intersegmental coordination;    Medicinal leech;    Hirudo verbana;   

DOI  :  10.1016/j.neulet.2010.08.078

来源: Elsevier

【 摘 要 】

Medicinal leeches (Hirudo spp.) swim using a metachronal, front-to-back undulation. The behavior is generated by central pattern generators (CPGs) distributed along the animal's midbody ganglia and is coordinated by both central and peripheral mechanisms. Here we report that a component of the venom of Conus imperialis, a-conotoxin ImI, known to block nicotinic acetyl-choline receptors in other species, disrupts swimming. Leeches injected with the toxin swam in circles with exaggerated dorsoventral bends and reduced forward velocity. Fictive swimming in isolated nerve cords was even more strongly disrupted, indicating that the toxin targets the CPGs and central coordination, while peripheral coordination partially rescues the behavior in intact animals. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

【 授权许可】

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