Throughout history, humans have relied on plants as a source of medication, flavoring, and food. Plants synthesize large chemical libraries and release many of these compounds into the rhizosphere and atmosphere where they affect animal and microbe behavior. To survive, nematodes must have evolved the sensory capacity to distinguish plant-made small molecules (SMs) that are harmful and must be avoided from those that are beneficial and should be sought.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThroughout history, humans have relied on plants as a source of medication, flavoring, and food. Plants synthesize large chemical libraries and release many of these compounds into the rhizosphere and atmosphere where they affect animal and microbe behavior. To survive, nematodes must have evolved the sensory capacity to distinguish plant-made small molecules (SMs) that are harmful and must be avoided from those that are beneficial and should be sought.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe degenerin channels, epithelial sodium channels, and acid-sensing ion channels (DEG/ENaC/ASICs) play important roles in sensing mechanical stimuli, regulating salt homeostasis, and responding to acidification in the nervous system. They have two transmembrane domains separated by a large extracellular domain and are believed to assemble as homomeric or heteromeric trimers. Based on studies of selected family members, these channels are assumed to form nonvoltage-gated and sodium-selective channels sensitive to the anti-hypertensive drug amiloride.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFProc Natl Acad Sci U S A
June 2020
Proton (H) channels are special: They select protons against other ions that are up to a millionfold more abundant. Only a few proton channels have been identified so far. Here, we identify a family of voltage-gated "pacemaker" channels, HCNL1, that are exquisitely selective for protons.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNeurons convert synaptic or sensory inputs into cellular outputs. It is not well understood how a single neuron senses, processes multiple stimuli, and generates distinct neuronal outcomes. Here, we describe the mechanism by which the C.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGentle touch sensation in mammals depends on synaptic transmission from primary sensory cells (Merkel cells) to secondary sensory neurons. Hoffman et al. (2018) identify norepinephrine and β-adrendergic receptors as the neurotransmitter-receptor pair responsible for sustained touch responses.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMechanical stimuli play a critical role in organ development, tissue homeostasis, and disease. Understanding how mechanical signals are processed in multicellular model systems is critical for connecting cellular processes to tissue- and organism-level responses. However, progress in the field that studies these phenomena, mechanobiology, has been limited by lack of appropriate experimental techniques for applying repeatable mechanical stimuli to intact organs and model organisms.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMormyrid fish rely on reafferent input for active electrolocation. Their electrosensory input consists of phase and amplitude information. These are encoded by differently tuned receptor cells within the Mormyromasts, A- and B-cells, respectively, which are distributed over the animal's body.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The resection of the tracheobronchial bifurcation with complete preservation of lung parenchyma remains a challenge owing to the limited indications for surgery, anesthesiologic management, operative technique, and postoperative course. The aim of this retrospective study was to evaluate factors influencing the perioperative course and long-term survival.
Methods: Between 1989 and 2014, 19 patients underwent a resection of the distal trachea and carina with complete preservation of lung tissue, 16 for malignant tumors (7 adenoid cystic carcinomas, 3 carcinoid tumors, 3 mucoepidermoid tumors, 2 squamous cell carcinomas, and 1 small cell carcinomas), 2 for inflammatory stenosis, and 1 after a complex traumatic rupture.
Calcium in the flagellum controls sperm navigation. In sperm of marine invertebrates and mammals, Ca(2+) signalling has been intensely studied, whereas for fish little is known. In sea urchin sperm, a cyclic nucleotide-gated K(+) channel (CNGK) mediates a cGMP-induced hyperpolarization that evokes Ca(2+) influx.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Thorac Cardiovasc Surg
April 2008
Objectives: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the feasibility and diagnostic value of repeat mediastinoscopy as part of the response-evaluation protocol of 2 phase II multimodality studies for either stage IIIA/B non-small cell lung cancer or small cell lung cancer.
Methods: From January 1991 through December 1998, 104 patients (79 men and 25 women) with stage IIIA/B non-small cell lung cancer (84 patients) or small cell lung cancer (17 patients) were enrolled in 2 different multimodality trials and underwent remediastinoscopy after induction chemoradiotherapy. The median age was 56 years (range, 34-72 years).