Abstract
Mechanoreception is an essential feature of many sensory modalities. Nevertheless, the mechanisms that govern the conversion of a mechanical force to distinct patterns of action potentials remain poorly understood. Proprioceptive mechanoreceptors reside in skeletal muscle and inform the nervous system of the position of body and limbs in space. We show here that Whirlin/Deafness autosomal recessive 31 (DFNB31), a PDZ-scaffold protein involved in vestibular and auditory hair cell transduction, is also expressed by proprioceptive sensory neurons (pSNs) in dorsal root ganglia in mice. Whirlin localizes to the peripheral sensory endings of pSNs and facilitates pSN afferent firing in response to muscle stretch. The requirement of Whirlin in both proprioceptors and hair cells suggests that accessory mechanosensory signaling molecules define common features of mechanoreceptive processing across sensory systems.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 3073-3084 |
Number of pages | 12 |
Journal | Journal of Neuroscience |
Volume | 35 |
Issue number | 7 |
Early online date | 18 Feb 2015 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 18 Feb 2015 |
Keywords
- mechanoreception
- muscle spindle
- PDZ proteins
- proprioceptors
- sensory-motor control
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Dive into the research topics of 'The PDZ-Domain Protein Whirlin Facilitates Mechanosensory Signaling in Mammalian Proprioceptors'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.Profiles
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Guy Bewick
- School of Medicine, Medical Sciences & Nutrition, Neuroscience
- School of Medicine, Medical Sciences & Nutrition, Aberdeen Cardiovascular and Diabetes Centre
- School of Medicine, Medical Sciences & Nutrition, Medical Sciences - Senior Lecturer
- School of Medicine, Medical Sciences & Nutrition, Institute of Medical Sciences
Person: Academic