IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/nature/v440y2006i7084d10.1038_nature04538.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A C. elegans stretch receptor neuron revealed by a mechanosensitive TRP channel homologue

Author

Listed:
  • Wei Li

    (University of Michigan)

  • Zhaoyang Feng

    (University of Michigan)

  • Paul W. Sternberg

    (California Institute of Technology)

  • X. Z. Shawn Xu

    (University of Michigan
    University of Michigan Medical School)

Abstract

Once more with feeling Proprioception, the sense of self, is essential for our daily life. For example, we count on proprioception to ‘feel’ our body position in space and guide how much to extend our arms and legs. A study of the roundworm C. elegans shows that it uses proprioception to control its body posture and position during locomotion. This requires a single proprioceptor neuron and a mechanosensitive ion channel functioning in this neuron. Interestingly, this C. elegans neuron is functionally analogous to human muscle spindles and Golgi tendon organs that are important for controlling arm and leg movements. These results suggest that the basic principles of proprioception are evolutionarily conserved between C. elegans and humans, and indicate that C. elegans can be a valuable model organism for studying proprioception and its related human diseases.

Suggested Citation

  • Wei Li & Zhaoyang Feng & Paul W. Sternberg & X. Z. Shawn Xu, 2006. "A C. elegans stretch receptor neuron revealed by a mechanosensitive TRP channel homologue," Nature, Nature, vol. 440(7084), pages 684-687, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:440:y:2006:i:7084:d:10.1038_nature04538
    DOI: 10.1038/nature04538
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/nature04538
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/nature04538?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:440:y:2006:i:7084:d:10.1038_nature04538. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.