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Updated: May 27, 2025

Using a Microfluidics Device for Mechanical Stimulation and High Resolution Imaging of C. elegans
Published on: February 19, 2018
Anoctamin-1 is a core component of a mechanosensory anion channel complex in C. elegans
Wenjuan Zou1,2,3, Yuedan Fan4,5,6, Jia Liu5,6
1Department of Neurosurgery of the First Affiliated Hospital and School of Brain Science and Brain Medicine, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Zhejiang, China. zouwenjuan2008@163.com.
Abstract:
Mechanotransduction channels are widely expressed in both vertebrates and invertebrates, mediating various physiological processes such as touch, hearing and blood-pressure sensing. While previously known mechanotransduction channels in metazoans are primarily cation-selective, we identified Anoctamin-1 (ANOH-1), the C. elegans homolog of mammalian calcium-activated chloride channel ANO1/TMEM16A, as an essential component of a mechanosensory channel complex that contributes to the nose touch mechanosensation in C. elegans. Ectopic expression of either C. elegans or human Anoctamin-1 confers mechanosensitivity to touch-insensitive neurons, suggesting a cell-autonomous role of ANOH-1/ANO1 in mechanotransduction. Additionally, we demonstrated that the mechanosensory function of ANOH-1/ANO1 relies on CIB (calcium- and integrin- binding) proteins. Thus, our results reveal an evolutionarily conserved chloride channel involved in mechanosensory transduction in metazoans, highlighting the importance of anion channels in mechanosensory processes.
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