IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v2y2011i1d10.1038_ncomms1308.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The neural circuits and sensory channels mediating harsh touch sensation in Caenorhabditis elegans

Author

Listed:
  • Wei Li

    (Life Sciences Institute, University of Michigan)

  • Lijun Kang

    (Life Sciences Institute, University of Michigan)

  • Beverly J. Piggott

    (Life Sciences Institute, University of Michigan
    Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology University of Michigan)

  • Zhaoyang Feng

    (Life Sciences Institute, University of Michigan
    Case Western Reserve University)

  • X.Z. Shawn Xu

    (Life Sciences Institute, University of Michigan
    Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology University of Michigan)

Abstract

Most animals can distinguish two distinct types of touch stimuli: gentle (innocuous) and harsh (noxious/painful) touch, however, the underlying mechanisms are not well understood. Caenorhabditis elegans is a useful model for the study of gentle touch sensation. However, little is known about harsh touch sensation in this organism. Here we characterize harsh touch sensation in C. elegans. We show that C. elegans exhibits differential behavioural responses to harsh touch and gentle touch. Laser ablations identify distinct sets of sensory neurons and interneurons required for harsh touch sensation at different body segments. Optogenetic stimulation of the circuitry can drive behaviour. Patch-clamp recordings reveal that TRP family and amiloride-sensitive Na+ channels mediate touch-evoked currents in different sensory neurons. Our work identifies the neural circuits and characterizes the sensory channels mediating harsh touch sensation in C. elegans, establishing it as a genetic model for studying this sensory modality.

Suggested Citation

  • Wei Li & Lijun Kang & Beverly J. Piggott & Zhaoyang Feng & X.Z. Shawn Xu, 2011. "The neural circuits and sensory channels mediating harsh touch sensation in Caenorhabditis elegans," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 2(1), pages 1-9, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:2:y:2011:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms1308
    DOI: 10.1038/ncomms1308
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms1308
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/ncomms1308?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Hagar Setty & Yehuda Salzberg & Shadi Karimi & Elisheva Berent-Barzel & Michael Krieg & Meital Oren-Suissa, 2022. "Sexually dimorphic architecture and function of a mechanosensory circuit in C. elegans," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-15, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:2:y:2011:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms1308. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.