Thus, we can examine the pyloric network from the molecular to the systems level. The 14 neurons of the pyloric network fall into six cell types. The baseline differences between the six pyloric IAs, and their functional correlates, are very well defined. We are currently using the six pyloric IAs as a model to elucidate the mechanisms by which distinct, yet malleable components are maintained in this dynamic cellular ensemble. Arthropod A-channels are broadly classified into two types, shaker and shal.
All pyloric neurons possess both shaker and shal A-channels.
Shal channels are located in the space-clamped compartment and appear to mediate the somatic IA in all pyloric cells. Shaker channels, on the other hand, are excluded from this compartment and are found only in axonal membranes and glial cells. The question arises as to how somatic IA diversity is established when the same gene underlies the IA in every cell type. We are answering this question by examining the molecular mechanisms that could establish somatic IA diversity, including alternate splicing of the transcript, ancillary protein interactions, and post-translational modifications. To answer this question we are examining changes in shal transcript levels and splice patterns, and changes in channel phosphorylation states, in response to different experimental manipulations.