NOMPC, a member of the TRP channel family, localizes to the tubular body and distal cilium of Drosophila campaniform and chordotonal receptor cells

Abstract

Mechanoreception underlies the senses of touch, hearing and balance. An early event in mechanoreception is the opening of ion channels in response to mechanical force impinging on the cell. Here, we report antibody localization of NOMPC, a member of the transient receptor potential (TRP) ion channel family, to the tubular body of campaniform receptors in the halteres and to the distal regions of the cilia of chordotonal neurons in Johnston's organ, the sound-sensing organ of flies. Because NOMPC has been shown to be associated with the mechanotransduction process, our studies suggest that the transduction apparatus in both types of sensory cells is located in regions where a specialized microtubule-based cytoskeleton is in close proximity to an overlying cuticular structure. This localization suggests a transmission route of the mechanical stimulus to the cell. Furthermore, the commonality of NOMPC locations in the two structurally different receptor types suggests a conserved transduction apparatus involving both the intracellular cytoskeleton and the extracellular matrix. © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Cell- and subunit-specific mechanisms of CNG channel ciliary trafficking and localization inC. elegans

“…In vertebrate olfactory cilia, both CNG channels and Ca 2+ -gated chloride channels required for signal amplification are suggested to be clustered at the proximal end of the distal ciliary segment (Badamdorj et al, 2008;Flannery et al, 2006;Matsuzaki et al, 1999), although there might be organism-specific differences (Lowe and Gold, 1991;Takeuchi and Kurahashi, 2008). In Drosophila mechanosensory organs, a TRPN channel required for primary mechanotransduction is localized to the distal ciliary region, whereas TRPV channels that regulate signal amplification are instead localized to a proximal zone (Cheng et al, 2010;Lee et al, 2010;Liang et al, 2011). Similarly, the PKD-2 polycystin 2 channel is enriched in the proximal regions of male sensory neuron cilia in C. elegans Barr et al, 2001;Barr and Sternberg, 1999), and signaling proteins are also localized non-uniformly in Chlamydomonas flagella (Fujiu et al, 2009;Iomini et al, 2006).…”

Methods to Study Centrosomes and Cilia in Drosophila

“…Note: This table is not an exhaustive list of all centrosome and cilia components mapped. Due to space constrain, only references for mutants and/or markers for each gene are mentioned in the list [15,16,19,21,31,[35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51]. Also, for more information about the genes visit www.flybase.org.…”

A Behavioral Assay for Mechanosensation of MARCM-based Clones in <em>Drosophila melanogaster</em>

“…The ion channel, no mechanoreceptor potential C (NOMPC), is an essential component of the mechanotransduction pathway in Drosophila 5,[11][12][13] . NOMPC belongs to the transient receptor potential (TRP) superfamily of cation channels 5 and satisfies all of the criteria to qualify as a mechanosensitive channel in Drosophila 14,15 : 1) NOMPC is expressed in the ciliate tips of type 1 sensory neurons of Drosophila 13,[16][17][18] , 2) NOMPC null larvae do not have an electrical response to tactile stimulation . Given this evidence, we predicted that NOMPC mutant clones would show an altered or inhibited grooming response in response to mechanical stimulation of bristles.…”