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Using C. elegans to Study the Effects of Toxins in Sensory Ion Channels In Vivo

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Snake and Spider Toxins

Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 2068))

Abstract

Caenorhabditis elegans is a powerful animal model in which transgenesis, behavior, and physiology can be merged to study in vivo the effect of natural and synthetic agonists in sensory ion channels. Worms have polymodal sensory neurons (like the ASH pair) that couple ion channel activation with a robust and easily scorable aversive-like behavior. We expressed the transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) channel from rat (r) in worms’ ASH neurons and determined its sensitivity to the tarantula double-knot toxin (DkTx) and the active component of chili peppers (capsaicin). This chapter describes protocols for generating and maintaining transgenic rTRPV1 worms to determine dose-dependent behavior. The goal is to provide an efficient tool to characterize the function of sensory channels (wild type and mutants) in vivo.

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Acknowledgments

The author thanks Dr. J.F. Cordero-Morales (University of Tennessee Health Science Center), Dr. A. Priel (Hebrew University of Jerusalem), and Dr. C. Hopkins (NemaMetrix, Inc.) for their insightful comments. This work was supported by a start-up research grant from the United States—Israel Binational Science Foundation (BSF) [Grant #2015221] and by the American Heart Association [Grant # 16SDG26700010] to VV.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physiology, College of Medicine, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN, USA

    Valeria Vásquez

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  1. Valeria Vásquez
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Correspondence to Valeria Vásquez .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Medicine, School of Pharmacy, Institute for Drug Research, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel

    Avi Priel

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Vásquez, V. (2020). Using C. elegans to Study the Effects of Toxins in Sensory Ion Channels In Vivo. In: Priel, A. (eds) Snake and Spider Toxins. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 2068. Humana, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-9845-6_12

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-9845-6_12

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  • Publisher Name: Humana, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4939-9844-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4939-9845-6

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