TRPV channel-mediated calcium transients in nociceptor neurons are dispensable for avoidance behaviour.
Abstract
Animals need to sense and react to potentially dangerous environments. TRP ion channels
participate in nociception, presumably via Ca(2+) influx, in most animal species.
However, the relationship between ion permeation and animals' nocifensive behaviour
is unknown. Here we use an invertebrate animal model with relevance for mammalian
pain. We analyse the putative selectivity filter of OSM-9, a TRPV channel, in osmotic
avoidance behaviour of Caenorhabditis elegans. Using mutagenized OSM-9 expressed in
the head nociceptor neuron, ASH, we study nocifensive behaviour and Ca(2+) influx.
Within the selectivity filter, M(601)-F(609), Y604G strongly reduces avoidance behaviour
and eliminates Ca(2+) transients. Y604F also abolishes Ca(2+) transients in ASH, while
sustaining avoidance behaviour, yet it disrupts behavioral plasticity. Homology modelling
of the OSM-9 pore suggests that Y(604) may assume a scaffolding role. Thus, aromatic
residues in the OSM-9 selectivity filter are critical for pain behaviour and ion permeation.
These findings have relevance for understanding evolutionary roots of mammalian nociception.
Type
Journal articleSubject
Amino Acid SequenceAmino Acid Substitution
Animals
Avoidance Learning
Caenorhabditis elegans
Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins
Calcium
Calcium Signaling
Gene Expression
Ion Transport
Models, Molecular
Molecular Sequence Data
Mutation
Nerve Tissue Proteins
Nociception
Nociceptors
Recombinant Fusion Proteins
Sequence Alignment
Structural Homology, Protein
TRPV Cation Channels
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https://hdl.handle.net/10161/11664Published Version (Please cite this version)
10.1038/ncomms5734Publication Info
Lindy, Amanda S; Parekh, Puja K; Zhu, Richard; Kanju, Patrick; Chintapalli, Sree V;
Tsvilovskyy, Volodymyr; ... Liedtke, Wolfgang B (2014). TRPV channel-mediated calcium transients in nociceptor neurons are dispensable for
avoidance behaviour. Nat Commun, 5. pp. 4734. 10.1038/ncomms5734. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/11664.This is constructed from limited available data and may be imprecise. To cite this
article, please review & use the official citation provided by the journal.
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Show full item recordScholars@Duke
Wolfgang Bernhard Liedtke
Adjunct Professor in the Department of Neurology
Research Interests in the Liedtke-Lab:
Pain/ nociception
Sensory transduction and -transmission
TRP ion channels
Water and salt equilibrium regulated by the central nervous system
Visit the lab's website, download papers and read Dr. Liedtke's CV here.

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