INTRODUCTION: The purpose of these studies was to describe a novel application of an automated data acquisition/data reduction system, DanioVision    by Noldus. DanioVision    has the ability to detect changes in locomotor activity in third instar @entity238 larvae. The noncompetitive @entity68990 receptor antagonist @entity5094 ( @entity4045 ), was used as a pharmacologic agent to decrease locomotor activity. METHODS: Two strains of @entity238 were used in these studies; wild-type flies and flies with a mutation in the @entity68990 gene ( @entity68990 (MD-RR)). @entity68990 (MD-RR) @entity238 are naturally occurring mutants that express an aberrant form of the @entity68990 receptor, which has a lower affinity for @entity4045 , but not @entity1246 itself. Larvae, extracted from food in 20% @entity969 , were randomly placed into vials containing vehicle or @entity4045 (0.03-3mM). After incubation of 2-24h, individual larvae were put in each well of a 6-well culture plate previously coated with 2% agar, the plate was then placed in the DanioVision    apparatus. The activity of individual larva was recorded for 5min, digitized and analyzed using Ethovision   XT software. RESULTS: Incubation of third instar wild-type larvae in 1mM @entity4045 for 4 or 24h decreased activity; whereas, a 2h incubation in @entity4045 was without effect. @entity4045 caused a concentration-dependent decrease in activity as demonstrated by consistently reduced locomotor activity with 1.0 and 3.0mM: 0.3mM resulted in variable @entity2915 and 0.03mM yielded no effect. By contrast, @entity4045 did not affect activity in @entity68990 (MD-RR) larvae even at the highest concentration, 3.0mM. DISCUSSION: Using an automated data acquisition system, it was found that @entity4045 decreases activity in third instar @entity238 larvae due to a selective blockade of the @entity68990 receptor. The method will reduce the likelihood of @entity1 error and bias, as well as increase the speed and ease of data collection and analysis.

An automated method to assay locomotor activity in third instar XXXX larvae.

@entity68990 :: ('39054(Tax:7227)', 'Gene') :: ['Rdl', 'GABAA'] @entity1 :: ('9606', 'Species') :: ['human'] @entity1246 :: ('MESH:D005680', 'Chemical') :: ['GABA'] @entity4045 :: ('D010852', 'Chemical') :: ['PTX'] @entity969 :: ('MESH:D013395', 'Chemical') :: ['sucrose'] @entity2915 :: ('MESH:D006948', 'Disease') :: ['decreases in locomotor activity'] @entity5094 :: ('MESH:D010852', 'Chemical') :: ['picrotoxin'] @entity238 :: ('7227', 'Species') :: ['Drosophila melanogaster', 'Drosophila']
@entity238 :: (7227,Species) :: ['Drosophila melanogaster']
