Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Chen Y
PROVIDER: S-EPMC4577206 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Sep
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Chen Yushu Y Bharill Shashank S Isacoff Ehud Y EY Chalfie Martin M
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 20150831 37
Caenorhabditis elegans senses gentle touch in the six touch receptor neurons (TRNs) using a mechanotransduction complex that contains the pore-forming degenerin/epithelial sodium channel (DEG/ENaC) proteins MEC-4 and MEC-10. Past work has suggested these proteins interact with the paraoxonase-like MEC-6 and the cholesterol-binding stomatin-like MEC-2 proteins. Using single molecule optical imaging in Xenopus oocytes, we found that MEC-4 forms homotrimers and MEC-4 and MEC-10 form 4:4:10 heterotr ...[more]