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Published today in Cell, researchers from the Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Center, Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco have identified the single brain protein that appears to account for most of the intoxicating effects of alcohol.
The discovery was made in a roundworm (Caenorhabditis elegans) widely studied because half of its approximately 20,000 genes have counterparts in the human genome. The mechanisms by which alcohol acts on the brain are believed to be similar throughout the animal kingdom, since species from worms and fruit flies to mice and humans all become intoxicated at similar alcohol concentrations. Many studies have identified a number of genes that can partially influence how alcohol affects behavior, this is the first finding that a single gene and the brain protein it codes for - known as an ion channel - are responsible for the intoxicating effects of alcohol in a living organism.
Researchers already knew that the gene known as slo-1 codes for a channel-like protein in the brain that can allow potassium ions to pour out of neurons, a normal process that temporarily slows down the neuron's activity. In the study, the scientists discovered that alcohol makes the channel open more frequently, depressing neuron activity and leading to sluggish, uncoordinated movement typical of intoxication. In the human brain, there is the same kind of channel - the BK channel.
In a UCSF press release, the researchers suggested that a drug that modifies alcohol's effect on the channel could quickly sober someone up after a bout of drinking, or weaken the taste for alcohol among people vulnerable to alcoholism. Of course, alcohol works on other sites as well, studies have shown that altering one gene or another can partially affect behavioral responses to ethanol. This is the first study to demonstrate that a single gene mutation can create such strong resistance to the behavioral effect of ethanol. Although more research is needed, especially on human subjects, the potential for identifying the molecules in the brain that alcohol acts on to change behavior, can give scientists an opportunity to pursue a direct approach to develop drugs or other therapies to treat alcohol addiction.
In a related story this week, Brain Waves discussed RU-21 - 'a drug developed by the former KGB to keep its agents sober so they could drink opponents under the table while stealing their secrets.' There is also a link to 'what really causes hangovers.'
12:14:33 AM 
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