Belly roll, a GPI-anchored Ly6 protein, regulates escape behaviors by modulating the excitability of nociceptive peptidergic interneurons.

Appropriate modulation of escape behaviors in response to potentially damaging stimuli is essential for survival. Although nociceptive circuitry has been studied, it is poorly understood how genetic contexts affect relevant escape responses. Using an unbiased genome-wide association analysis, we identified an Ly6/α-neurotoxin family protein, Belly roll (Bero), which negatively regulates nociceptive escape behavior.

Small conductance Ca-activated K channels induce the firing pause periods during the activation of nociceptive neurons.

In larvae, Class IV sensory neurons respond to noxious thermal stimuli and provoke heat avoidance behavior. Previously, we showed that the activated neurons displayed characteristic fluctuations of firing rates, which consisted of repetitive high-frequency spike trains and subsequent pause periods, and we proposed that the firing rate fluctuations enhanced the heat avoidance (Terada et al., 2016).