Thesenseoftouchisanimportantpartofthewayweinteractwitheachotherandtheworld.Despitethis importance,wedonothaveadetailedunderstandingofhowthesenseoftouchworks.Thisisproblematic whendisease,medicaltreatment,and/oragedegradestheabilitytodetecttouch.Inordertodevelop treatmentsfortouchdisorders,weneedtoimproveourknowledgeoftheunderlyingprocessesoftouch sensation.Oneofthesekeyprocessesistransmissionoftouchstimulifromthesurfaceoftheskintothe neuronsthatareactivatedbymechanicalstretching. Thegoalofthisproposalistounderstandhowthetissuesandstructuresbetweentheoutsideoftheskinand thetouchneuronsaltertheneurons?abilitytosensetouch.Toavoidthemorphologicalvariationand complexitypresentinhumansandothermammals,westudytheroundwormC?.elegans?.Thesewormshave deterministicdevelopment,andwehavemanygenetictechniquesavailabletoperformexperiments,enabling anarrayofexperimentsnotpossiblewithotheranimals. Ourcollaborativeresearcheffortbetweenengineersandbiologistshasdevelopedmicroscaleforcesensors forapplyingcontrolledforcestowormsforthepurposeofstudyingthesenseoftouch.Wehavefoundthatthe touchneuronsinwormssharesomecharacteristicswiththePaciniancorpusclesfoundinmammalianskin.In thiswork,Iwilluseourcustominstrumentstostudyhowthemechanicalpropertiesoftheworm?sskinaffect thesesharedcharacteristics.Furthermore,Iwilldeployourtoolstoimproveourunderstandingofthestructural proteinsthatareresponsiblefortransmittingmechanicalstimulitotouchneuronsintheworm. Thelongtermgoalofthisresearcheffortistoelucidatethesharedpathwaysthatenabletouchsensationin both?C.elegans?andmammals.Thisworkwillcontributetothisgoalbyshowinghowthetissuesurrounding touchneuronsalterstheforcesthatreachtheneuron.Byunderstandingeachpartoftheprocessoftouch sensationin?C.elegans?,wewillimproveourabilitytostudyandunderstandtouchsensationinmammals.
Thesenseoftouchiscriticalforourinteractionswiththeworld.Unfortunately,wedonothaveastrong understandingoftheunderlyingprocessesthatenablehumansandanimalstosensetouch,sowehaveno waytorestorethesenseoftouchwhenitisdiminishedbydiseaseorage.Thisworkwillimproveour knowledgeofhowtouchingtheskinofananimalactivatesthenervesthatdetecttouch,whichmayhelpus understandtouchdisorders.
| Mazzochette, E A; Nekimken, A L; Loizeau, F et al. (2018) The tactile receptive fields of freely moving Caenorhabditis elegans nematodes. Integr Biol (Camb) 10:450-463 |
| Fehlauer, Holger; Nekimken, Adam L; Kim, Anna A et al. (2018) Using a Microfluidics Device for Mechanical Stimulation and High Resolution Imaging of C. elegans. J Vis Exp : |
| Nekimken, Adam L; Mazzochette, Eileen A; Goodman, Miriam B et al. (2017) Forces applied during classical touch assays for Caenorhabditis elegans. PLoS One 12:e0178080 |
| Nekimken, Adam L; Fehlauer, Holger; Kim, Anna A et al. (2017) Pneumatic stimulation of C. elegans mechanoreceptor neurons in a microfluidic trap. Lab Chip 17:1116-1127 |
