Understanding the biophysical basis of mechanotransduction is certainly a significant goal, and the applicant's proposal to study the properties of wild type and mutant UNC-105, and the collagen suspected of mechanically gating this channel should significantly contribute to this understanding. The applicant has already collected a good deal of preliminary data that argue strongly that he is able to do patch-clamp recording needed to achieve Aim 1 of his proposal, and his previous experience with immunoelectron microscopy bodes well for his being able to achieve Aim 2. The most difficult (and most interesting) aspect of his proposal, to demonstrate the role of LET-2 collagen in gating the UNC-105 channel, has no preliminary data. However, even if this aim is not achieved, the results from the first two aims would undoubtedly be sufficient for a commendable Ph.D thesis.
