Graz team maps ion channels in fruit fly brain

Researchers at the Medical University of Graz and colleagues in Tübingen and Munich have mapped ion channels in the fruit fly brain, ORF reported. The findings could help researchers develop medicines and inspire energy-efficient microchips.

The fruit fly brain is about the size of a poppy seed and has around 150,000 nerve cells, making it a comparatively simple model for studying how the brain processes information. Ion channels are protein complexes embedded in cell membranes that control how electrical signals spread, combine and change within nerve cells.

Mapping the channels fills a gap between the anatomical wiring diagrams produced by connectomics and the dynamic activity inside individual cells, the university said. The team compiled a catalogue of the channels’ locations and functions and used the information in biophysical models to simulate neural processes.

One model showed how ion channels in fruit fly nerve cells detect movement. The researchers found a steady current through specific sodium channels, which makes the cells particularly sensitive to the direction of movement.

Most of the fruit fly’s ion channels also occur in similar forms in humans and are involved in neurological disorders and chronic pain, according to the university.