| Title: | Drosophila sensory receptors-a set of molecular Swiss Army Knives |
| Address: | "Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, The Neuroscience Research Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA" |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 1943-2631 (Electronic) 0016-6731 (Print) 0016-6731 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "Genetic approaches in the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, have led to a major triumph in the field of sensory biology-the discovery of multiple large families of sensory receptors and channels. Some of these families, such as transient receptor potential channels, are conserved from animals ranging from worms to humans, while others, such as 'gustatory receptors,' 'olfactory receptors,' and 'ionotropic receptors,' are restricted to invertebrates. Prior to the identification of sensory receptors in flies, it was widely assumed that these proteins function in just one modality such as vision, smell, taste, hearing, and somatosensation, which includes thermosensation, light, and noxious mechanical touch. By employing a vast combination of genetic, behavioral, electrophysiological, and other approaches in flies, a major concept to emerge is that many sensory receptors are multitaskers. The earliest example of this idea was the discovery that individual transient receptor potential channels function in multiple senses. It is now clear that multitasking is exhibited by other large receptor families including gustatory receptors, ionotropic receptors, epithelial Na+ channels (also referred to as Pickpockets), and even opsins, which were formerly thought to function exclusively as light sensors. Genetic characterizations of these Drosophila receptors and the neurons that express them also reveal the mechanisms through which flies can accurately differentiate between different stimuli even when they activate the same receptor, as well as mechanisms of adaptation, amplification, and sensory integration. The insights gleaned from studies in flies have been highly influential in directing investigations in many other animal models" |
| Keywords: | "Animals Drosophila Proteins/chemistry/genetics/*metabolism Drosophila melanogaster Ion Channels/chemistry/genetics/*metabolism Receptors, Cell Surface/chemistry/genetics/*metabolism Sensation Sensory Receptor Cells/*metabolism/physiology Signal Transducti;neuroscience;" |
| Notes: | "MedlineMontell, Craig eng R01 DC007864/DC/NIDCD NIH HHS/ R01 DC016278/DC/NIDCD NIH HHS/ R01 AI169386/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/ R01 EY010852/EY/NEI NIH HHS/ R56 AI153334/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/ R01 EY008117/EY/NEI NIH HHS/ Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural Review 2021/03/09 Genetics. 2021 Mar 3; 217(1):1-34. doi: 10.1093/genetics/iyaa011" |
