dictyNews
Electronic Edition
Volume 40, number 29
November 14, 2014

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=========
Abstracts
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Epilepsy Research Methods Update: Understanding the causes of 
epileptic seizures and identifying new treatments using 
non-mammalian model organisms

Vincent T Cunliffe*, Richard A Baines, Carlo NG Giachello, 
Wei-Hsiang Lin, Alan Morgan, Markus Reuber, Claire Russell, 
Matthew C Walker, Robin SB Williams


Seizure , in press

This narrative review is intended to introduce clinicians treating 
epilepsy and researchers familiar with mammalian models of epilepsy 
to experimentally tractable, non-mammalian research models used in 
epilepsy research, ranging from unicellular eukaryotes to more 
complex multicellular organisms. The review focuses on four model 
organisms: the social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum, the roundworm 
Caenorhabditis elegans, the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster and 
the zebrafish Danio rerio. We consider recent discoveries made with 
each model organism and discuss the importance of these advances for 
the understanding and treatment of epilepsy in humans. The relative 
ease with which mutations in genes of interest can be produced and 
studied quickly and cheaply in these organisms, together with their 
anatomical and physiological simplicity in comparison to mammalian 
species, are major advantages when researchers are trying to unravel 
complex disease mechanisms. The short generation times of most of 
these model organisms also mean that they lend themselves particularly 
conveniently to the investigation of drug effects or epileptogenic 
processes across the lifecourse.


Submitted by Robin Williams [[log in to unmask]]
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The ABC Transporter, AbcB3, Mediates cAMP Export In D. discoideum 
Development

Edward Roshan Miranda, Edward A. Nam, Adam Kuspa and Gad Shaulsky

Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030


Developmental Biology, in press

Extracellular cAMP functions as a primary ligand for cell surface 
cAMP receptors throughout Dictyostelium discoideum development, 
controlling chemotaxis and morphogenesis. The developmental 
consequences of cAMP signaling and the metabolism of cAMP have been 
studied in great detail, but it has been unclear how cells export 
cAMP across the plasma membrane. Here we show pharmacologically and 
genetically that ABC transporters mediate cAMP export. Using an 
evolutionary-developmental biology approach, we identified several 
candidate abc genes and characterized one of them, abcB3, in more 
detail. Genetic and biochemical evidence suggest that AbcB3 is a 
component of the cAMP export mechanism in D. discoideum development.


Submitted by Gad Shaulsky [[log in to unmask]]   
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[End dictyNews, volume 40, number 29]