The gentlest breeze, the roughest sandpaper, and the sharpest pin are detected by our somatosensory system, which is composed of thousands of touch-sensitive mechanoreceptor neurons embedded in the skin. It is widely understood that physical force is transduced into neural signals through activation of specialized ion channels (called 'mechano-electrical transduction' or MeT channels), but understanding of the molecular and physical basis of this process remains rudimentary. All animals have the ability to sense touch and recent work has shown that nematode and mammalian somatosensory neurons have similar response dynamics (reviewed in Geffeney and Goodman, Neuron 74:609, 2012). This functional conservation is seen in neurons that rely on either DEG/ENaC or TRP channel proteins to form MeT channels, a finding which implies that response properties are conferred primarily by the cellular environment and not intrinsic to the ion channel proteins. The long-term goal of the proposed research program is to understand how the cell membrane and cytoskeleton regulate the delivery of physical force to MeT channels expressed in touch receptor neurons (TRNs) and discover the structural rearrangements associated with touch-evoked MeT channel gating. The general approach will be to combine in vivo recording of MeT channel gating in identified TRNs with genetic perturbations in C. elegans nematodes that 1) alter biosynthesis of polyunsaturated fatty acids and cell membrane function, 2) disrupt the microtubule and spectrin cytoskeleton and 3) disrupt selected domains in the MEC-4 proteins crucial to the formation of the sodium-selective native MeT channels,. This work will be paired with optogenetics studies designed to identify factors that affect MeT channels, but not downstream signaling events and with biophysical analysis of MeT channels expressed in heterologous cells. The proposed research combines expertise in sensory biophysics, in vivo electrical recording from identified C. elegans neurons, genetic analysis, to derive a profound understanding of the sense of touch. What is learned from these studies has the potential to improve understanding of touch sensation and its dysfunction in disease, during chemotherapy and as a consequence of normal aging.

Public Health Relevance

Our sense of the touch is the earliest to develop, last to fade and the least understood. In a syndrome called peripheral neuropathy, touch sensitivity declines with age and is severely impaired in diabetes, by HIV and by chemotherapy. There is no treatment for sensory neuropathy beyond palliative care. The proposed research exploits simple animal models to develop a comprehensive understanding of how touch acts on ion channel mechanosensors, cell membranes, and cell skeletons to give rise to touch sensation and our work has the potential to lead to treatments that may prevent or alleviate sensory neuropathy.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01NS047715-13
Application #
9295065
Study Section
Neurotransporters, Receptors, and Calcium Signaling Study Section (NTRC)
Program Officer
Gnadt, James W
Project Start
2003-12-01
Project End
2018-05-31
Budget Start
2017-06-01
Budget End
2018-05-31
Support Year
13
Fiscal Year
2017
Total Cost
$312,735
Indirect Cost
$113,768
Name
Stanford University
Department
Biophysics
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
009214214
City
Stanford
State
CA
Country
United States
Zip Code
94304
Kim, Anna A; Nekimken, Adam L; Fechner, Sylvia et al. (2018) Microfluidics for mechanobiology of model organisms. Methods Cell Biol 146:217-259
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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
Kubanek, Jan; Shukla, Poojan; Das, Alakananda et al. (2018) Ultrasound Elicits Behavioral Responses through Mechanical Effects on Neurons and Ion Channels in a Simple Nervous System. J Neurosci 38:3081-3091
Goodman, Miriam B; Sengupta, Piali (2018) The extraordinary AFD thermosensor of C. elegans. Pflugers Arch 470:839-849
Krieg, Michael; Stühmer, Jan; Cueva, Juan G et al. (2017) Genetic defects in ?-spectrin and tau sensitize C. elegans axons to movement-induced damage via torque-tension coupling. Elife 6:
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
Glauser, Dominique A; Goodman, Miriam B (2016) Molecules empowering animals to sense and respond to temperature in changing environments. Curr Opin Neurobiol 41:92-98
Lockhead, Dean; Schwarz, Erich M; O'Hagan, Robert et al. (2016) The tubulin repertoire of C. elegans sensory neurons and its context-dependent role in process outgrowth. Mol Biol Cell :

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