Editor's Summary

30 March 2006

Once more with feeling

Proprioception, the sense of self, is essential for our daily life. For example, we count on proprioception to 'feel' our body position in space and guide how much to extend our arms and legs. A study of the roundworm C. elegans shows that it uses proprioception to control its body posture and position during locomotion. This requires a single proprioceptor neuron and a mechanosensitive ion channel functioning in this neuron. Interestingly, this C. elegans neuron is functionally analogous to human muscle spindles and Golgi tendon organs that are important for controlling arm and leg movements. These results suggest that the basic principles of proprioception are evolutionarily conserved between C. elegans and humans, and indicate that C. elegans can be a valuable model organism for studying proprioception and its related human diseases.

Letter: A C. elegans stretch receptor neuron revealed by a mechanosensitive TRP channel homologue

Wei Li, Zhaoyang Feng, Paul W. Sternberg and X. Z. Shawn Xu

doi:10.1038/nature04538

First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (370K) | Supplementary information