November 23, 2000 Studies of Worms that Fail to Brake for Food
Yield New Serotonin Receptor Researchers studying the roundworm
have identified a new type of serotonin receptor. If this type
of receptor is found in humans, it may become an additional
target for drugs designed to treat a wide range of disorders
caused by serotonin imbalance, including mood disorders,
migraine headaches and obesity. The identification of the new
serotonin receptor began with experiments designed to probe why
certain strains of the roundworm, fail to slow down when they
encounter food. When well-fed worms are presented with food,
their rate of locomotion slows in what scientists call the
"basal slowing response." In contrast, worms that have been
deprived of food for 30 minutes before encountering food exhibit
an "enhanced slowing response." In an article published in the
November 23, 2000, issue of the journal , Howard Hughes Medical
Institute (HHMI) investigator H. Robert Horvitz and colleagues
at the Massachusetts Institute of