Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA.
Neuron. 2010 Aug 12;67(3):373-80. doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2010.07.004.
The generation of coordinated body movements relies on sensory feedback from mechanosensitive proprioceptors. We have found that the proper function of NompC, a putative mechanosensitive TRP channel, is not only required for fly locomotion, but also crucial for larval crawling. Calcium imaging revealed that NompC is required for the activation of two subtypes of sensory neurons during peristaltic muscle contractions. Having isolated a full-length nompC cDNA with a protein coding sequence larger than previously predicted, we demonstrate its function by rescuing locomotion defects in nompC mutants, and further show that antibodies against the extended C terminus recognize NompC in chordotonal ciliary tips. Moreover, we show that the ankyrin repeats in NompC are required for proper localization and function of NompC in vivo and are required for association of NompC with microtubules. Taken together, our findings suggest that NompC mediates proprioception in locomotion and support its role as a mechanosensitive channel.
协调身体运动的产生依赖于机械敏感本体感受器的感觉反馈。我们发现，假定的机械敏感 TRP 通道 NompC 的正常功能不仅是飞行运动所必需的，而且对幼虫爬行也至关重要。钙成像显示，NompC 在蠕动肌肉收缩期间两种感觉神经元亚型的激活中是必需的。我们分离了一个全长的 nompC cDNA，其编码序列比以前预测的要长，通过挽救 nompC 突变体的运动缺陷来证明其功能，进一步表明针对延伸的 C 末端的抗体在 chordotonal 纤毛尖端识别 NompC。此外，我们表明，NompC 中的锚蛋白重复序列是 NompC 在体内正确定位和功能所必需的，并且是 NompC 与微管结合所必需的。总之，我们的发现表明，NompC 在运动中介导本体感觉，并支持其作为机械敏感通道的作用。
