We were able to test more directly whether or not loss of lips-7 is able to modulate the function of SLO-1 in the absence of ethanol, using special alleles of slo-1. Two gain-of-function alleles of slo-1 that enhance the open probability and open time of the channel have been described [29]. These animals have a slow locomotion phenotype, which shares characteristics with the phenotype of ethanol intoxication. We hypothesized that lips-7 might suppress these gain-of-function defects if the increase in levels of TAGs reduces the activity of the channel. We tested the locomotion of slo-1(ky389gf); lips-7(ok3110) and slo-1(ky399gf); lips-7(ok3110) animals and found that loss of lips-7 was able to significantly rescue the locomotion defect of both slo-1 gain-of-function mutations (Figure 4c). These data strongly suggest that changes in TAG levels resulting from increased or decreased LIPS-7 activity are able to influence the activity of a transmembrane protein (SLO-1) both in its basal state and in the presence of ethanol.
