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Papers of the Week


Papers: 10 Sep 2022 - 16 Sep 2022


2022 Sep 02


Neuron

Editor's Pick

Shear stress activates nociceptors to drive Drosophila mechanical nociception.

Authors

Gong J, Chen J, Gu P, Shang Y, Ruppell K T, Yang Y, Wang F, Wen Q, Xiang Y
Neuron. 2022 Sep 02.
PMID: 36087585.

Abstract

Mechanical nociception is essential for animal survival. However, the forces involved in nociceptor activation and the underlying mechanotransduction mechanisms remain elusive. Here, we address these problems by investigating nocifensive behavior in Drosophila larvae. We show that strong poking stimulates nociceptors with a mixture of forces including shear stress and stretch. Unexpectedly, nociceptors are selectively activated by shear stress, but not stretch. Both the shear stress responses of nociceptors and nocifensive behavior require transient receptor potential A1 (TrpA1), which is specifically expressed in nociceptors. We further demonstrate that expression of mammalian or Drosophila TrpA1 in heterologous cells confers responses to shear stress but not stretch. Finally, shear stress activates TrpA1 in a membrane-delimited manner, through modulation of membrane fluidity. Together, our study reveals TrpA1 as an evolutionarily conserved mechanosensitive channel specifically activated by shear stress and suggests a critical role of shear stress in activating nociceptors to drive mechanical nociception.