• Molecules and Cells
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• v.40 no.10
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• pp.787-795
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• 2017

Avoiding ingestion of excessively salty food is essential for cation homeostasis that underlies various physiological processes in organisms. The molecular and cellular basis of the aversive salt taste, however, remains elusive. Through a behavioral reverse genetic screening, we discover that feeding suppression by $Na^+$-rich food requires Ionotropic Receptor 76b (Ir76b) in Drosophila labellar gustatory receptor neurons (GRNs). Concentrated sodium solutions with various anions caused feeding suppression dependent on Ir76b. Feeding aversion to caffeine and high concentrations of divalent cations and sorbitol was unimpaired in Ir76b-deficient animals, indicating sensory specificity of Ir76b-dependent $Na^+$ detection and the irrelevance of hyperosmolarity-driven mechanosensation to Ir76b-mediated feeding aversion. Ir76b-dependent $Na^+$-sensing GRNs in both L- and s-bristles are required for repulsion as opposed to the previous report where the L-bristle GRNs direct only low-$Na^+$ attraction. Our work extends the physiological implications of Ir76b from low-$Na^+$ attraction to high-$Na^+$ aversion, prompting further investigation of the physiological mechanisms that modulate two competing components of $Na^+$-evoked gustation coded in heterogeneous Ir76b-positive GRNs.

• Journal of Genetic Medicine
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.79-82
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• 2020

In epilepsy-aphasia spectrum (EAS) disorders, mutations in the glutamate receptor ionotropic N-methyl-D-aspartate type subunit 2A (GRIN2A) have become important for screening the disease. Research into the phenotypic variability of several types of neurologic impairment involving these mutations is in progress. However, the non-neurological problems related to these mutations are poorly understood. EAS disorders usually have epileptic, cognitive, or behavioral manifestations. In this case report, we present a female patient with epilepsy, delay in expressive language and social development, and intellectual disability with low intelligence quotient and memory quotient, but normal motor development. Through genetic analysis, she was found to have a missense and a nonsense mutation in GRIN2A (c.1770A>C; p.Lys509Asn and c.3187G>T; p.Glu1063∗, respectively) and we consider the nonsense mutation as 'pathogenic variant'. She was also discovered to have congenital hypothyroidism, growth hormone deficiency and Rathke's cleft cyst in the brain, which were previously unknown features of GRIN2A mutation. Our findings should widen understanding of the spectrum of GRIN2A phenotypes, and emphasize the need for more research into the association between GRIN2A mutations and non-neurologic clinical presentations.