Figure 5.

Ethanol enhancement of locomotion requires G_αs protein activation in IL2 neurons. Left: in control animals (lite-1(ce314)), addition of ethanol enhanced locomotion; however, photostimulation has no stimulatory or depressive effects. Middle: in comparison, IL2-specific optogenetic activation of G_αs stimulated C. elegans locomotion to an equivalent level to low ethanol exposure (lite-1(ce314);Ex[P_klp-6::JellyOp]). Simultaneous ethanol exposure and G_αs photoactivation had no additional effect on locomotion. Right: inhibition of G_αs by IL2-specific optogenetic activation of G_αi blocked ethanol-dependent enhancement of locomotion (lite-1(ce314);Ex[P_klp-6::hRh1]). Activation of G_αi alone had no depressive effect on nematode locomotion. Addition of ethanol without G_αi activation exhibited normal locomotor enhancement. All data are expressed normalized to untreated controls. * indicates significant enhancement in comparison to untreated control. Comparisons were made by one-way ANOVA with Tukey post hoc comparisons (P < 0.001; N = 30 for each condition). Control worms (lite-1(ce314)) are depicted in white, lite-1(ce314);Ex[P_klp-6::JellyOp] in black, and lite-1(ce314);Ex[P_klp-6::hRh1] in gray.