Radial stretch reveals distinct populations of mechanosensitive mammalian somatosensory neurons
Radial stretch reveals distinct populations of mechanosensitive mammalian somatosensory neurons
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DOI：
10.1073/pnas.0810801105
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发表时间：
2008-12-16
影响因子：
11.1
通讯作者：
Julius, David
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Bhattacharya, Martha R. C.;Bautista, Diana M.;Julius, David
初级传入体感觉神经元调节我们的触觉，以响应环境压力的变化。检测和传导热刺激的分子最近已经被发现，但是机械感觉的机制，特别是在脊椎动物生物中，仍然是一个谜。传统上，通过记录膜电流来评估体感觉神经元在局灶压力、吸力或渗透刺激下的机械诱发反应。在这里，我们使用径向拉伸结合活细胞钙成像来获得机械敏感神经元亚群的广泛概述。我们发现不同的拉伸强度激活不同的感觉神经元亚群，由大小、分子标记或药理学属性定义。在所有亚群中，拉伸反应都需要细胞外钙，这表明机械力触发钙内流。该方法扩展了可用于检查哺乳动物感觉神经元机械转导的刺激范式，促进了未来的生理和药理学研究。
Primary afferent somatosensory neurons mediate our sense of touch in response to changes in ambient pressure. Molecules that detect and transduce thermal stimuli have been recently identified, but mechanisms underlying mechanosensation, particularly in vertebrate organisms, remain enigmatic. Traditionally, mechanically evoked responses in somatosensory neurons have been assessed one cell at a time by recording membrane currents in response to application of focal pressure, suction, or osmotic challenge. Here, we used radial stretch in combination with live-cell calcium imaging to gain a broad overview of mechanosensitive neuronal subpopulations. We found that different stretch intensities activate distinct subsets of sensory neurons as defined by size, molecular markers, or pharmacological attributes. In all subsets, stretchevoked responses required extracellular calcium, indicating that mechanical force triggers calcium influx. This approach extends the repertoire of stimulus paradigms that can be used to examine mechanotransduction in mammalian sensory neurons, facilitating future physiological and pharmacological studies.