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Physiology

Keeping it regular with protons

Nature volume 452, pages 35–36 (2008)Cite this article

Muscle coordination is mostly governed by motor programs built into the nervous system. But one program — the defecation cycle in a worm — has a mechanism that avoids nerves completely and uses protons as signals.

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Figure 1: Proton concentrations and worm defecation.
Figure 2: Communication between cells in a worm's defecation cycle.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. and Miriam B. Goodman is in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Physiology, Laura M. Prolo is in the Neurosciences Program, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California 94305, USA. mbgoodman@stanford.edu,

    Laura M. Prolo & Miriam B. Goodman

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  1. Laura M. Prolo
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  2. Miriam B. Goodman
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Prolo, L., Goodman, M. Keeping it regular with protons. Nature 452, 35–36 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/452035a

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