A Drosophila mechanosensory transduction channel.

Mechanosensory transduction underlies a wide range of senses, including proprioception, touch, balance, and hearing. The pivotal element of these senses is a mechanically gated ion channel that transduces sound, pressure, or movement into changes in excitability of specialized sensory cells. Despite the prevalence of mechanosensory systems, little is known about the molecular nature of the transduction channels. To identify such a channel, we analyzed Drosophila melanogaster mechanoreceptive mutants for defects in mechanosensory physiology. Loss-of-function mutations in the no mechanoreceptor potential C (nompC) gene virtually abolished mechanosensory signaling. nompC encodes a new ion channel that is essential for mechanosensory transduction. As expected for a transduction channel, D. melanogaster NOMPC and a Caenorhabditis elegans homolog were selectively expressed in mechanosensory organs.

[1]  S. Smerdon,et al.  The ankyrin repeat: a diversity of interactions on a common structural framework. , 1999, Trends in biochemical sciences.

[2]  A. Hudspeth,et al.  Response latency of vertebrate hair cells. , 1979, Biophysical journal.

[3]  Cori Bargmann,et al.  OSM-9, A Novel Protein with Structural Similarity to Channels, Is Required for Olfaction, Mechanosensation, and Olfactory Adaptation inCaenorhabditis elegans , 1997, The Journal of Neuroscience.

[4]  C. Kung,et al.  Behavioral genetics of Paramecium. , 1987, Annual review of genetics.

[5]  C. Zuker,et al.  Genetic dissection of mechanosensory transduction: Mechanoreception-defective mutations of drosophila , 1994, Neuron.

[6]  S. Brenner,et al.  The structure of the nervous system of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. , 1986, Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences.

[7]  D. Fekete.  Development of the vertebrate ear: insights from knockouts and mutants , 1999, Trends in Neurosciences.

[8]  A. J. Hudspeth,et al.  Compliance of the hair bundle associated with gating of mechanoelectrical transduction channels in the Bullfrog's saccular hair cell , 1988, Neuron.

[9]  M G Evans,et al.  Activation and adaptation of transducer currents in turtle hair cells. , 1989, The Journal of physiology.

[10]  A J Hudspeth,et al.  Gating-spring models of mechanoelectrical transduction by hair cells of the internal ear. , 1995, Annual review of biophysics and biomolecular structure.

[11]  N. Perrimon,et al.  A genetic screen for mutations that disrupt an auditory response in Drosophila melanogaster. , 1997, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[12]  Andrey Rzhetsky,et al.  A Spatial Map of Olfactory Receptor Expression in the Drosophila Antenna , 1999, Cell.

[13]  Y. Dudai,et al.  Adaptation and fatigue of a mechanosensory neuron in wild-type Drosophila and in memory mutants , 1990, The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience.

[14]  D P Corey,et al.  The molecules of mechanosensation. , 1997, Annual review of neuroscience.

[15]  Keiji Naruse,et al.  Molecular identification of a eukaryotic, stretch-activated nonselective cation channel. , 1999, Science.

[16]  D. Julius,et al.  The capsaicin receptor: a heat-activated ion channel in the pain pathway , 1997, Nature.

[17]  Thomas A. Keil,et al.  Functional morphology of insect mechanoreceptors , 1997, Microscopy research and technique.

[18]  A. J. Hudspeth,et al.  How the ear's works work , 1989, Nature.

[19]  A. Mccarthy.  Development , 1996, Current Opinion in Neurobiology.

[20]  Bassem A. Hassan,et al.  Math1: an essential gene for the generation of inner ear hair cells. , 1999, Science.

[21]  C. Zuker,et al.  Regulation of PLC-mediated signalling in vivo by CDP-diacylglycerol synthase , 1995, Nature.

[22]  E. J. Luna,et al.  Molecular links between the cytoskeleton and membranes. , 1991, Current opinion in cell biology.

[23]  C. Zuker,et al.  Genetic approaches to mechanosensory transduction , 1995, Current Opinion in Neurobiology.

[24]  J. Sulston,et al.  Developmental genetics of the mechanosensory neurons of Caenorhabditis elegans. , 1981, Developmental biology.

[25]  D. Wilkin,et al.  Neuron , 2001, Brain Research.

[26]  J. N. Thomson,et al.  Mutant sensory cilia in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. , 1986, Developmental biology.

[27]  M. Chalfie,et al.  Genetic control of differentiation of the Caenorhabditis elegans touch receptor neurons. , 1989, Science.

[28]  D P Corey,et al.  Adaptation of mechanoelectrical transduction in hair cells of the bullfrog's sacculus , 1987, The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience.

[29]  M. Driscoll,et al.  DEG/ENaC channels: A touchy superfamily that watches its salt , 1999, BioEssays : news and reviews in molecular, cellular and developmental biology.

[30]  Parag A. Pathak,et al.  Massachusetts Institute of Technology , 1964, Nature.

[31]  R. Terracol,et al.  The vrille gene of Drosophila is a maternal enhancer of decapentaplegic and encodes a new member of the bZIP family of transcription factors. , 1997, Genetics.

[32]  U. Thurm.  An Insect Mechanoreceptor Part I: Fine Structure and Adequate Stimulus , 1965 .

[33]  J. Ashby.  References and Notes , 1999 .

[34]  C. Zuker,et al.  TRP, TRPL and trouble in photoreceptor cells , 1998, Current Opinion in Neurobiology.

[35]  B. Bainbridge,et al.  Genetics , 1981, Experientia.

[36]  C. Nüsslein-Volhard,et al.  Mutations affecting development of the zebrafish inner ear and lateral line. , 1996, Development.