Patent ID: 7001734

Claim:
A method of identifying a ligand that modulates activity of a Drosophila membrane voltage-activated sodium channel, which comprises: (a) expressing an isolated Drosophila voltage-activated sodium channel para, and expressing an isolated Drosophila voltage-activated putative beta subunit, tipE, in a first Xenopus oocyte host cell, wherein said expressing of para and said expressing of tipE occur after coinjection of para and tipE RNA, wherein said para RNA is encoded by the DNA molecule as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 7, and wherein the host cell resultingly expresses a voltage-activated sodium current that is tetradotoxin sensitive; (b) contacting the first host cell with said ligand; (c) measuring the resulting voltage-activated current; and (d) comparing the voltage-activated current measured according to step (c) with voltage-activated current measured in a second, control Xenopus oocyte host cell prepared according to step (a) and not treated with said ligand.