Fruit flies for anti-pain drug discovery.
Recent work has indicated that fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) can be used in nociception research. Genetic screening identified a gene, painless, that is required for thermal and mechanical nociception in Drosophila larvae. On the other hand, pharmacological techniques and noxious heat were used to assay antinocieceptive behavior in intact adult Drosophila. In general, animal models for pain research are bound by ethical concerns. Since no serious ethical controversies have been raised regarding experiments in insects, Drosophila may be, for the time being an ethically acceptable animal model for combined genetic and pharmacological analgesia research.
Manev
Hari
H
Department of Psychiatry, The Psychiatric Institute, University of Illinois at Chicago, 1601 West Taylor Street, MC912, Chicago, IL 60612, USA. Hmanev@psych.uic.edu
Dimitrijevic
Nikola
N
D000700:Analgesics / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000494:pharmacology; D000818:Animals; D029721:Drosophila Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D006358:Hot Temperature; D007473:Ion Channels / Q000235:genetics*; D023421:Models, Animal; D010598:Pharmacognosy
D000700:Analgesics; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D007473:Ion Channels; C474592:pain protein, Drosophila