Mitochondrial Effects on Anesthetic Sensitivity and Anesthetic Induced Neurodegeneration

Background. Anesthetic induced neurotoxicity (AIN) induced by early developmental exposure to volatile anesthetics (VAs) is a characteristic of organisms across a wide range of species. However, no forward genetic screens have been undertaken to identify the critical pathways affected in AIN. This is complicated by the fact that the mechanisms of action of VAs remain unknown. Mice lacking the mitochondrial complex I subunit, NDUFS4 (Ndufs4(KO)), are hypersensitive to VAs; loss of NDUFS4 in glutamatergic neurons conveys the entire VA hypersensitivity.

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