A stomatin-like protein necessary for mechanosensation in C. elegans.
The mec-2 gene is required for the function of a set of six touch receptor neurons in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans; mec-2 mutants, which are touch-insensitive, have touch cells that appear morphologically normal. Gene interaction studies suggest that mec-2 positively regulates the activity of the putative mechanosensory transduction channel (and the present paper), comprised in part of proteins encoded by the two degenerin genes mec-4 and mec-10 The central region of the mec-2 protein (MEC-2) is very similar to stomatin, an integral membrane protein (band 7.2b) in human red blood cells that is thought to regulate cation conductance. MEC-2-LacZ fusions are distributed along the touch receptor axons. This axonal distribution, which is mediated by the mec-2-specific amino terminus, is disrupted by mutations in mec-12, an alpha-tubulin gene needed for touch cell function. Our results indicate that MEC-2 links the mechanosensory channel and the microtubule cytoskeleton of the touch receptor neurons. Such linkage provides the basis for a mechanism of mechanosensation whereby microtubule displacement leads to channel opening.
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001369:Axons / Q000502:physiology; D001798:Blood Proteins / Q000737:chemistry; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000502:physiology*; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D005091:Exons; D015801:Helminth Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D007438:Introns; D008465:Mechanoreceptors / Q000502:physiology*; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D008870:Microtubules / Q000502:physiology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D015183:Restriction Mapping; D014110:Touch / Q000502:physiology
D001798:Blood Proteins; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins; D015801:Helminth Proteins; C096705:MEC-2 protein, C elegans; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins