Action potentials can be evoked in wild-type larval motor neuron cell bodies by the injection of depolarising current. In Slobmut-IP1 mutant larvae, more action potentials are evoked by the same depolarising stimulus at all stimulus levels examined.
Recordings of voltage-dependent currents under voltage clamp show that the fast inward currents in Slobmut-IP1 mutants are similar to wild-type. Conversely, the voltage-dependent outward currents are smaller in the mutant.
The evoked excitatory junctional current (EJC) peak amplitude at the neuromuscular junction is approximately 25% higher in mutant flies than in wild type. The mutant flies show a strong increase in the frequency and amplitude of spontaneous miniature mEJCs compared to wild type.
Slobmut-IP1 mutants display altered neuronal excitability. Whole-cell patch recordings reveal that the outward current traces in pars intercerebralis (PI-1) neurons evoked by each depolarizing voltage step are larger in Slobmut-IP1 mutants than in wild-type controls. Quantitative analysis reveals that the voltage dependence of activation, as measured by the conductance versus voltage (G-V) relationship, is shifted in the hyperpolarizing direction in the Slobmut-IP1 mutant flies.
Compared to wild-types, the proportion of outward current blocked by the potassium channel blocker tetraethylammonium (TEA) is increased in Slobmut-IP1 mutant flies.
In contrast to wild-type controls, single slo channels in PI-1 neurons appear to be open all the time, closing only occasionally and briefly in Slobmut-IP1 mutants.
Action potential duration is shorter in PI-1 neurons in the brains of Slobmut-IP1 mutant flies than in those in wild-type flies. This is due to an increase in the rate of repolarization, whereas the rise times of the action potentials are similar in the two genotypes.
Homozygous Slobmut-IP1 or hemizygous Slobmut-IP1/Df(2L)Exel6018 or trans-heterozygous Slobmut-IP1/Slobmut-K162 mutant flies survive starvation significantly longer than do wild-type or heterozygous control flies.
Slobmut-IP1 is rescued by Scer\GAL4Act.PU/SlobUAS.cSa
Slobmut-IP1 is rescued by Scer\GAL4insc-Mz1407/SlobUAS.cSa
Slobmut-IP1 is rescued by Scer\GAL4Ilp2.PR/SlobUAS.cSa
Slobmut-IP1 is not rescued by Scer\GAL4how-24B/SlobUAS.cSa
Expression of SlobScer\UAS.cSa under the control of either Scer\GAL4Act.PU or Scer\GAL41407 rescues the excitatory junctional current (EJC) peak amplitude of Slobmut-IP1 neuromuscular junctions to wild-type levels, and also restores the frequency and amplitude of spontaneous miniature mEJCs to normal.
Expression of SlobScer\UAS.cSa under the control of Scer\GAL4how-24B does not rescue the electrophysiological defects at the Slobmut-IP1 neuromuscular junction.
The outward current phenotype observed in Slobmut-IP1 mutants is rescued by Scer\GAL4Ilp2.PR-driven expression of SlobScer\UAS.cSa.