Work in our lab is aimed at elucidating the molecular structure and function of potassium (K+) channel genes as well as attempting to understand the role(s) these genes might play in mammalian behavior. Here we propose to study voltage-gated K+ channel genes in the central nervous system (CNS) and auditory system of normal, mutant and transgenic mice. During the previous funding period, we cloned and mapped 6 different murine voltage-gated K+ channel genes to their chromosomal locations and found that the expression of one of these, MK1, is reduced approximately 50% in brains and cochlea of a deaf mutant mouse, deafwaddler. Here we propose to extend these findings by determining the cellular and subcellular distribution of these K+ channels in both the central nervous system and in the cochlea of normal and deaf mice. We will also explore the regulation of these genes and construct transgenic mice that express normal and mutant K+ channels. These studies will provide molecular insights into the distribution, gene expression and function of K+ channels in the mammalian brain and auditory system. The studies on dfw mutant animals provide the exciting possibility of linking K+ channel function with a neurological phenotype.
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