TY - JOUR
T1 - Caenorhabditis elegans TRPA-1 functions in mechanosensation
AU - Kindt, Katie S.
AU - Viswanath, Veena
AU - Macpherson, Lindsey
AU - Quast, Kathleen
AU - Hu, Hongzhen
AU - Patapoutian, Ardem
AU - Schafer, William R.
N1 - Funding Information:
We thank G. Lesa for genomic DNA and technical advice, A. Huang for his assistance with the automated worm tracker, G. Story for technical assistance and T. Jegla for assistance and discussions. We would also like to thank C. Bargmann, Rockefeller University for providing constructs and for help finding a suitable promoter to image the OLQ neurons. A. Fire (Carnegie Institution of Washington) supplied us with GFP expression vectors. We would also like to thank M. de Bono, for comments and guidance in neuronal identification. We thank the C. elegans gene knockout project at Oklahoma Medical Research Facility for providing the ok999 strain, and the National Bioresource Project and the Mitani laboratory (Tokyo Women’s Medical University) for providing the tm1402 strain. This research was partially supported by US National Institutes of Health grants R01DE016927 to A.P and R01DA016445 and R01DA018341 to W.R.S., and a Ruth Kirschstein Predoctoral Fellowship to K.S.K.
PY - 2007/5
Y1 - 2007/5
N2 - Members of the transient receptor potential (TRP) ion channel family mediate diverse sensory transduction processes in both vertebrates and invertebrates. In particular, members of the TRPA subfamily have distinct thermosensory roles in Drosophila, and mammalian TRPA1 is postulated to have a function in noxious cold sensation and mechanosensation. Here we show that mutations in trpa-1, the C. elegans ortholog of mouse Trpa1, confer specific defects in mechanosensory behaviors related to nose-touch responses and foraging. trpa-1 is expressed and functions in sensory neurons required for these mechanosensory behaviors, and contributes to neural responses of these cells to touch, particularly after repeated mechanical stimulation. Furthermore, mechanical pressure can activate C. elegans TRPA-1 heterologously expressed in mammalian cells. Collectively, these data demonstrate that trpa-1 encodes an ion channel that can be activated in response to mechanical pressure and is required for mechanosensory neuron function, suggesting a possible role in mechanosensory transduction or modulation.
AB - Members of the transient receptor potential (TRP) ion channel family mediate diverse sensory transduction processes in both vertebrates and invertebrates. In particular, members of the TRPA subfamily have distinct thermosensory roles in Drosophila, and mammalian TRPA1 is postulated to have a function in noxious cold sensation and mechanosensation. Here we show that mutations in trpa-1, the C. elegans ortholog of mouse Trpa1, confer specific defects in mechanosensory behaviors related to nose-touch responses and foraging. trpa-1 is expressed and functions in sensory neurons required for these mechanosensory behaviors, and contributes to neural responses of these cells to touch, particularly after repeated mechanical stimulation. Furthermore, mechanical pressure can activate C. elegans TRPA-1 heterologously expressed in mammalian cells. Collectively, these data demonstrate that trpa-1 encodes an ion channel that can be activated in response to mechanical pressure and is required for mechanosensory neuron function, suggesting a possible role in mechanosensory transduction or modulation.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=34247536405&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1038/nn1886
DO - 10.1038/nn1886
M3 - Article
C2 - 17450139
AN - SCOPUS:34247536405
SN - 1097-6256
VL - 10
SP - 568
EP - 577
JO - Nature neuroscience
JF - Nature neuroscience
IS - 5
ER -