Kuhara Atsushi, Okumura Masatoshi, Kimata Tsubasa, Tanizawa Yoshinori, Takano Ryo, Kimura Koutarou D, Inada Hitoshi, Matsumoto Kunihiro, Mori Ikue
Group of Molecular Neurobiology, Graduate School of Science, Nagoya University, Nagoya 464-8602, Japan.
Science. 2008 May 9;320(5877):803-7. doi: 10.1126/science.1148922. Epub 2008 Apr 10.
Temperature is an unavoidable environmental cue that affects the metabolism and behavior of any creature on Earth, yet how animals perceive temperature is poorly understood. The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans "memorizes" temperatures, and this stored information modifies its subsequent migration along a temperature gradient. We show that the olfactory neuron designated AWC senses temperature. Calcium imaging revealed that AWC responds to temperature changes and that response thresholds differ depending on the temperature to which the animal was previously exposed. In the mutant with impaired heterotrimeric guanine nucleotide-binding protein (G protein)-mediated signaling, AWC was hyperresponsive to temperature, whereas the AIY interneuron (which is postsynaptic to AWC) was hyporesponsive to temperature. Thus, temperature sensation exhibits a robust influence on a neural circuit controlling a memory-regulated behavior.
温度是一种无法避免的环境线索，它会影响地球上任何生物的新陈代谢和行为，但动物如何感知温度却知之甚少。线虫秀丽隐杆线虫会“记忆”温度，而这种存储的信息会改变其随后沿温度梯度的迁移。我们发现，指定为AWC的嗅觉神经元能感知温度。钙成像显示，AWC对温度变化有反应，且反应阈值因动物先前接触的温度而异。在异源三聚体鸟嘌呤核苷酸结合蛋白（G蛋白）介导的信号传导受损的突变体中，AWC对温度反应过度，而AIY中间神经元（位于AWC的突触后）对温度反应不足。因此，温度感知对控制记忆调节行为的神经回路具有强大影响。
