Journal article
TRPA channels distinguish gravity sensing from hearing in Johnston's organ
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS, Vol.106(32), pp.13606-13611
08/11/2009
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0906377106
PMCID: PMC2717111
PMID: 19666538
Abstract
Although many animal species sense gravity for spatial orientation, the molecular bases remain uncertain. Therefore, we studied
Drosophila melanogaster
, which possess an inherent upward movement against gravity-negative geotaxis. Negative geotaxis requires Johnston's organ, a mechanosensory structure located in the antenna that also detects near-field sound. Because channels of the transient receptor potential (TRP) superfamily can contribute to mechanosensory signaling, we asked whether they are important for negative geotaxis. We identified distinct expression patterns for 5
TRP
genes; the
TRPV
genes
nanchung
and
inactive
were present in most Johnston's organ neurons, the
TRPN
gene
nompC
and the
TRPA
gene
painless
were localized to 2 subpopulations of neurons, and the
TRPA
gene
pyrexia
was expressed in cap cells that may interact with the neurons. Likewise, mutating specific
TRP
genes produced distinct phenotypes, disrupting negative geotaxis (
painless
and
pyrexia
), hearing (
nompC
), or both (
nanchung
and
inactive
). Our genetic, physiological and behavioral data indicate that the sensory component of negative geotaxis involves multiple
TRP
genes. The results also distinguish between different mechanosensory modalities and set the stage for understanding how TRP channels contribute to mechanosensation.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- TRPA channels distinguish gravity sensing from hearing in Johnston's organ
- Creators
- Yishan Sun - Neuroscience Graduate ProgramLei Liu - Department of Internal MedicineYehuda Ben-Shahar - Department of Internal MedicineJulie S Jacobs - Department of BiologyDaniel F Eberl - Neuroscience Graduate ProgramMichael J Welsh - Neuroscience Graduate Program
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS, Vol.106(32), pp.13606-13611
- DOI
- 10.1073/pnas.0906377106
- PMID
- 19666538
- PMCID
- PMC2717111
- NLM abbreviation
- Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
- ISSN
- 0027-8424
- eISSN
- 1091-6490
- Publisher
- National Academy of Sciences
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 08/11/2009
- Academic Unit
- Neurology; Molecular Physiology and Biophysics; Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Occupational Medicine; Iowa Neuroscience Institute; Biology; Neurosurgery; Internal Medicine
- Record Identifier
- 9984013114302771
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