title: Evolutionary Specialization of Tactile Perception in Vertebrates.
abstract: Evolution has endowed vertebrates with the remarkable tactile ability to explore the world through the perception of physical force. Yet the sense of touch remains one of the least well understood senses at the cellular and molecular level. Vertebrates specializing in tactile perception can highlight general principles of mechanotransduction. Here, we review cellular and molecular adaptations that underlie the sense of touch in typical and acutely mechanosensitive vertebrates.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cellular & Molecular Physiology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut;
authors.forename: Eve R
authors.initials: ER
authors.lastname: Schneider
authors.affiliation: Department of Cellular & Molecular Physiology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut; Program in Cellular Neuroscience, Neurodegeneration and Repair, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut; and Department of Neuroscience, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut slav.bagriantsev@yale.edu elena.gracheva@yale.edu.
authors.forename: Elena O
authors.initials: EO
authors.lastname: Gracheva
authors.affiliation: Department of Cellular & Molecular Physiology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut; slav.bagriantsev@yale.edu elena.gracheva@yale.edu.
authors.forename: Slav N
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Bagriantsev
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology*; D005075:Biological Evolution; D006801:Humans; D040542:Mechanotransduction, Cellular / Q000502:physiology*; D014110:Touch / Q000502:physiology*; D055698:Touch Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D014714:Vertebrates