The Experts below are selected from a list of 321 Experts worldwide ranked by ideXlab platform
Miriam B Goodman - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Synaptic Communication upon Gentle Touch.
Neuron, 2018Co-Authors: Sylvia Fechner, Miriam B GoodmanAbstract:Gentle Touch Sensation in mammals depends on synaptic transmission from primary sensory cells (Merkel cells) to secondary sensory neurons. Hoffman et al. (2018) identify norepinephrine and β2-adrendergic receptors as the neurotransmitter-receptor pair responsible for sustained Touch responses. The findings may deepen understanding of how drugs affect Touch and pain Sensation.
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tissue mechanics and somatosensory neural responses govern Touch Sensation in c elegans
bioRxiv, 2018Co-Authors: Alessandro Sanzeni, Miriam B Goodman, Beth L. Pruitt, Samata Katta, Brian Petzold, Massimo VergassolaAbstract:The sense of Touch hinges on tissues transducing stimuli applied to the skin and somatosensory neurons converting mechanical inputs into currents. Like mammalian Pacinian corpuscles, the light-Touch response of the prime model organism C. elegans adapts rapidly, and is symmetrically activated by the onset and offset of a step indentation. Here, we propose a quantitative model that combines transduction of stimuli across the skin and subsequent gating of mechanoelectrical channels. For mechanics, we use an elastic model based on geometrically-nonlinear deformations of a pressurized cylindrical shell. For gating, we build upon consequences of the dermal layer's thinness and tangential stimuli. Our model demonstrates how the onset-offset symmetry arises from the coupling of mechanics and adaptation, and accounts for experimental neural responses to a broad variety of stimuli. Predicted effects of modifications in the mechanics or the internal pressure of the body are tested against mechanical and neurophysiological experiments.
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Mechanical systems biology of C. elegans Touch Sensation.
BioEssays : news and reviews in molecular cellular and developmental biology, 2015Co-Authors: Michael Krieg, Alexander R. Dunn, Miriam B GoodmanAbstract:The sense of Touch informs us of the physical properties of our surroundings and is a critical aspect of communication. Before Touches are perceived, mechanical signals are transmitted quickly and reliably from the skin's surface to mechano-electrical transduction channels embedded within specialized sensory neurons. We are just beginning to understand how soft tissues participate in force transmission and how they are deformed. Here, we review empirical and theoretical studies of single molecules and molecular ensembles thought to be involved in mechanotransmission and apply the concepts emerging from this work to the sense of Touch. We focus on the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans as a well-studied model for Touch Sensation in which mechanics can be studied on the molecular, cellular, and systems level. Finally, we conclude that force transmission is an emergent property of macromolecular cellular structures that mutually stabilize one another.
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mechanical control of the sense of Touch by β spectrin
Nature Cell Biology, 2014Co-Authors: Michael Krieg, Alexander R. Dunn, Miriam B GoodmanAbstract:How sensory neurons integrate mechanical signals during Touch Sensation has remained unclear. Using a combination of laser axotomy and FRET imaging to measure force across single cells and molecules, Goodman and colleagues show that the neuronal spectrin cytoskeleton transduces Touch Sensation in C. elegans.
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Mechanical control of the sense of Touch by β-spectrin
Nature Cell Biology, 2014Co-Authors: Michael Krieg, Alexander R. Dunn, Miriam B GoodmanAbstract:How sensory neurons integrate mechanical signals during Touch Sensation has remained unclear. Using a combination of laser axotomy and FRET imaging to measure force across single cells and molecules, Goodman and colleagues show that the neuronal spectrin cytoskeleton transduces Touch Sensation in C. elegans . The ability to sense and respond to mechanical stimuli emanates from sensory neurons and is shared by most, if not all, animals. Exactly how such neurons receive and distribute mechanical signals during Touch Sensation remains mysterious. Here, we show that Sensation of mechanical forces depends on a continuous, pre-stressed spectrin cytoskeleton inside neurons. Mutations in the tetramerization domain of Caenorhabditis elegans β-spectrin (UNC-70), an actin-membrane crosslinker, cause defects in sensory neuron morphology under compressive stress in moving animals. Through atomic force spectroscopy experiments on isolated neurons, in vivo laser axotomy and fluorescence resonance energy transfer imaging to measure force across single cells and molecules, we show that spectrin is held under constitutive tension in living animals, which contributes to elevated pre-stress in Touch receptor neurons. Genetic manipulations that decrease such spectrin-dependent tension also selectively impair Touch Sensation, suggesting that such pre-tension is essential for efficient responses to external mechanical stimuli.
Beth L. Pruitt - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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tissue mechanics and somatosensory neural responses govern Touch Sensation in c elegans
bioRxiv, 2018Co-Authors: Alessandro Sanzeni, Miriam B Goodman, Beth L. Pruitt, Samata Katta, Brian Petzold, Massimo VergassolaAbstract:The sense of Touch hinges on tissues transducing stimuli applied to the skin and somatosensory neurons converting mechanical inputs into currents. Like mammalian Pacinian corpuscles, the light-Touch response of the prime model organism C. elegans adapts rapidly, and is symmetrically activated by the onset and offset of a step indentation. Here, we propose a quantitative model that combines transduction of stimuli across the skin and subsequent gating of mechanoelectrical channels. For mechanics, we use an elastic model based on geometrically-nonlinear deformations of a pressurized cylindrical shell. For gating, we build upon consequences of the dermal layer's thinness and tangential stimuli. Our model demonstrates how the onset-offset symmetry arises from the coupling of mechanics and adaptation, and accounts for experimental neural responses to a broad variety of stimuli. Predicted effects of modifications in the mechanics or the internal pressure of the body are tested against mechanical and neurophysiological experiments.
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mems based force clamp analysis of the role of body stiffness in c elegans Touch Sensation
Integrative Biology, 2013Co-Authors: Bryan C Petzold, Eileen A. Mazzochette, Miriam B Goodman, Sung-jin Park, Beth L. PruittAbstract:Touch is enabled by mechanoreceptor neurons in the skin and plays an essential role in our everyday lives, but is among the least understood of our five basic senses. Force applied to the skin deforms these neurons and activates ion channels within them. Despite the importance of the mechanics of the skin in determining mechanoreceptor neuron deformation and ultimately Touch Sensation, the role of mechanics in Touch sensitivity is poorly understood. Here, we use the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans to directly test the hypothesis that body mechanics modulate Touch sensitivity. We demonstrate a microelectromechanical system (MEMS)-based force clamp that can apply calibrated forces to freely crawling C. elegans worms and measure Touch-evoked avoidance responses. This approach reveals that wild-type animals sense forces <1 μN and indentation depths <1 μm. We use both genetic manipulation of the skin and optogenetic modulation of body wall muscles to alter body mechanics. We find that small changes in body stiffness dramatically affect force sensitivity, while having only modest effects on indentation sensitivity. We investigate the theoretical body deformation predicted under applied force and conclude that local mechanical loads induce inward bending deformation of the skin to drive Touch Sensation in C. elegans.
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MEMS-based force-clamp analysis of the role of body stiffness in C. elegans Touch Sensation
Integrative Biology (United Kingdom), 2013Co-Authors: Bryan C Petzold, Eileen A. Mazzochette, Miriam B Goodman, Sung-jin Park, Beth L. PruittAbstract:Touch is enabled by mechanoreceptor neurons in the skin and plays an essential role in our everyday lives, but is among the least understood of our five basic senses. Force applied to the skin deforms these neurons and activates ion channels within them. Despite the importance of the mechanics of the skin in determining mechanoreceptor neuron deformation and ultimately Touch Sensation, the role of mechanics in Touch sensitivity is poorly understood. Here, we use the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans to directly test the hypothesis that body mechanics modulate Touch sensitivity. We demonstrate a microelectromechanical system (MEMS)-based force clamp that can apply calibrated forces to freely crawling C. elegans worms and measure Touch-evoked avoidance responses. This approach reveals that wild-type animals sense forces
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Body Mechanics Regulate the Force Threshold for Gentle Touch Sensation in the Nematode C. Elegans
Biophysical Journal, 2012Co-Authors: Bryan C Petzold, Miriam B Goodman, Sung-jin Park, Beth L. PruittAbstract:Touch is among the least understood of our senses despite its importance in our daily lives. In the model organism C. elegans, gentle Touch is detected by six Touch receptor neurons situated in the outer shell of the animal. Force applied to the body is filtered by the outer shell (cuticle, hypodermis and body wall muscles) of the body, locally straining nearby Touch receptor neuron(s) and opening mechanically-gated DEG/ENaC channels through an unknown mechanism. Previously we developed a piezoresistive cantilever force clamp system capable of applying calibrated loads to moving C. elegans [S.J. Park et al., Rev Sci Instr (2011), 82:043703] and showed that wild-type (N2) animals respond to forces of only 100s of nN. Further, we showed that the outer shell of the animal dominates overall body stiffness [S.J. Park et al., PNAS (2007), 104:17376]. Since the Touch receptor neurons lie within the outer shell and the outer shell controls the overall mechanics of the body, we hypothesized that the force threshold for gentle Touch avoidance is regulated by body stiffness. Building on our prior work showing that body stiffness can be reversibly modulated with optogenetically-induced changes in body wall muscle tone [B.C. Petzold et al., Biophys J (2011), 100:1977], we measured the force threshold for behavioral response while modulating body stiffness with Channelrhodopsin-2. In animals with hypercontracted muscles and elevated body stiffness, we found that larger forces were generally required to elicit a Touch avoidance response. These findings suggest that body mechanics play an important role in filtering applied loads to the Touch receptor neurons, ultimately modulating the force sensitivity of the animal, and imply that skin plays a critical role in Touch Sensation in both C. elegans and higher organisms.
Leeanne M. Carey - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Altered functional connectivity differs in stroke survivors with impaired Touch Sensation following left and right hemisphere lesions.
NeuroImage. Clinical, 2018Co-Authors: Peter Goodin, Gemma Lamp, Rishma Vidyasagar, David J T Mcardle, R. J. Seitz, Leeanne M. CareyAbstract:One in two survivors experience impairment in Touch Sensation after stroke. The nature of this impairment is likely associated with changes associated with the functional somatosensory network of the brain; however few studies have examined this. In particular, the impact of lesioned hemisphere has not been investigated. We examined resting state functional connectivity in 28 stroke survivors, 14 with left hemisphere and 14 with right hemisphere lesion, and 14 healthy controls. Contra-lesional hands showed significantly decreased Touch discrimination. Whole brain functional connectivity (FC) data was extracted from four seed regions, i.e. primary (S1) and secondary (S2) somatosensory cortices in both hemispheres. Whole brain FC maps and Laterality Indices (LI) were calculated for subgroups. Inter-hemispheric FC was greater in healthy controls compared to the combined stroke cohort from the left S1 seed and bilateral S2 seeds. The left lesion subgroup showed decreased FC, relative to controls, from left ipsi-lesional S1 to contra-lesional S1 and to distributed temporal, occipital and parietal regions. In comparison, the right lesion group showed decreased connectivity from contra-lesional left S1 and bilateral S2 to ipsi-lesional parietal operculum (S2), and to occipital and temporal regions. The right lesion group also showed increased intra-hemispheric FC from ipsi-lesional right S1 to inferior parietal regions compared to controls. In comparison to the left lesion group, those with right lesion showed greater intra-hemispheric connectivity from left S1 to left parietal and occipital regions and from right S1 to right angular and parietal regions. Laterality Indices were significantly greater for stroke subgroups relative to matched controls for contra-lesional S1 (left lesion group) and contra-lesional S2 (both groups). We provide evidence of altered functional connectivity within the somatosensory network, across both hemispheres, and to other networks in stroke survivors with impaired Touch Sensation. Hemisphere of lesion was associated with different patterns of altered functional connectivity within the somatosensory network and with related function was associated with different patterns of altered functional connectivity within the somatosensory network and with related functional networks.
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Improvement in Touch Sensation after Stroke is Associated with Resting Functional Connectivity Changes.
Frontiers in neurology, 2015Co-Authors: Louise C. Bannister, Sheila G. Crewther, Maria Gavrilescu, Leeanne M. CareyAbstract:Background: Distributed brain networks are known to be involved in facilitating behavioural improvement after stroke, yet few, if any, studies have investigated the relationship between improved Touch Sensation after stroke and changes in functional brain connectivity. Objective: We aimed to identify how recovery of somatosensory function in the first six months after stroke was associated with functional network changes as measured using resting-state connectivity analysis of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data. Methods: Ten stroke survivors underwent clinical testing and resting-state fMRI (rsfMRI) scans at one and six months post-stroke. Ten age-matched healthy participants were included as controls. Results: Patients demonstrated a wide range of severity of Touch impairment one month post-stroke, followed by variable improvement over time. In the stroke group, significantly stronger interhemispheric functional correlations between regions of the somatosensory system, and with visual and frontal areas, were found at six months than at one month post-stroke. Clinical improvement in tactile discrimination was associated with stronger correlations at six months between contralesional secondary somatosensory cortex (SII) and inferior parietal cortex (IPC) and middle temporal gyrus, and between contralesional thalamus and cerebellum. Conclusions: The strength of connectivity between somatosensory regions and distributed brain networks, including vision and attention networks, may change over time in stroke survivors with impaired Touch discrimination. Connectivity changes from contralesional SII and contralesional thalamus are associated with improved Touch Sensation at 6-months post-stroke. These functional connectivity changes could represent future targets for therapy.
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SomatoSensation assessment using the NIH Toolbox.
Neurology, 2013Co-Authors: Winnie Dunn, James W. Griffith, M. Tracy Morrison, Jennifer Tanquary, Dory Sabata, David Victorson, Leeanne M. Carey, Richard GershonAbstract:Touch Sensation is one element of sensory function. As such, somatoSensation is one of the sensory domains included in the NIH Toolbox, which is an assessment battery for measuring a range of human functions including emotional health, Sensation, cognition, and motor function. We evaluated a variety of methods for inclusion in the NIH Toolbox main battery. In a convenience sample of 409 participants, we evaluated aspects of kinesthesia, pain, and tactile discrimination. We present results on these measures across the lifespan and discuss implications for future studies that use the NIH Toolbox and these measures.
Bryan C Petzold - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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mems based force clamp analysis of the role of body stiffness in c elegans Touch Sensation
Integrative Biology, 2013Co-Authors: Bryan C Petzold, Eileen A. Mazzochette, Miriam B Goodman, Sung-jin Park, Beth L. PruittAbstract:Touch is enabled by mechanoreceptor neurons in the skin and plays an essential role in our everyday lives, but is among the least understood of our five basic senses. Force applied to the skin deforms these neurons and activates ion channels within them. Despite the importance of the mechanics of the skin in determining mechanoreceptor neuron deformation and ultimately Touch Sensation, the role of mechanics in Touch sensitivity is poorly understood. Here, we use the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans to directly test the hypothesis that body mechanics modulate Touch sensitivity. We demonstrate a microelectromechanical system (MEMS)-based force clamp that can apply calibrated forces to freely crawling C. elegans worms and measure Touch-evoked avoidance responses. This approach reveals that wild-type animals sense forces <1 μN and indentation depths <1 μm. We use both genetic manipulation of the skin and optogenetic modulation of body wall muscles to alter body mechanics. We find that small changes in body stiffness dramatically affect force sensitivity, while having only modest effects on indentation sensitivity. We investigate the theoretical body deformation predicted under applied force and conclude that local mechanical loads induce inward bending deformation of the skin to drive Touch Sensation in C. elegans.
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MEMS-based force-clamp analysis of the role of body stiffness in C. elegans Touch Sensation
Integrative Biology (United Kingdom), 2013Co-Authors: Bryan C Petzold, Eileen A. Mazzochette, Miriam B Goodman, Sung-jin Park, Beth L. PruittAbstract:Touch is enabled by mechanoreceptor neurons in the skin and plays an essential role in our everyday lives, but is among the least understood of our five basic senses. Force applied to the skin deforms these neurons and activates ion channels within them. Despite the importance of the mechanics of the skin in determining mechanoreceptor neuron deformation and ultimately Touch Sensation, the role of mechanics in Touch sensitivity is poorly understood. Here, we use the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans to directly test the hypothesis that body mechanics modulate Touch sensitivity. We demonstrate a microelectromechanical system (MEMS)-based force clamp that can apply calibrated forces to freely crawling C. elegans worms and measure Touch-evoked avoidance responses. This approach reveals that wild-type animals sense forces
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Body Mechanics Regulate the Force Threshold for Gentle Touch Sensation in the Nematode C. Elegans
Biophysical Journal, 2012Co-Authors: Bryan C Petzold, Miriam B Goodman, Sung-jin Park, Beth L. PruittAbstract:Touch is among the least understood of our senses despite its importance in our daily lives. In the model organism C. elegans, gentle Touch is detected by six Touch receptor neurons situated in the outer shell of the animal. Force applied to the body is filtered by the outer shell (cuticle, hypodermis and body wall muscles) of the body, locally straining nearby Touch receptor neuron(s) and opening mechanically-gated DEG/ENaC channels through an unknown mechanism. Previously we developed a piezoresistive cantilever force clamp system capable of applying calibrated loads to moving C. elegans [S.J. Park et al., Rev Sci Instr (2011), 82:043703] and showed that wild-type (N2) animals respond to forces of only 100s of nN. Further, we showed that the outer shell of the animal dominates overall body stiffness [S.J. Park et al., PNAS (2007), 104:17376]. Since the Touch receptor neurons lie within the outer shell and the outer shell controls the overall mechanics of the body, we hypothesized that the force threshold for gentle Touch avoidance is regulated by body stiffness. Building on our prior work showing that body stiffness can be reversibly modulated with optogenetically-induced changes in body wall muscle tone [B.C. Petzold et al., Biophys J (2011), 100:1977], we measured the force threshold for behavioral response while modulating body stiffness with Channelrhodopsin-2. In animals with hypercontracted muscles and elevated body stiffness, we found that larger forces were generally required to elicit a Touch avoidance response. These findings suggest that body mechanics play an important role in filtering applied loads to the Touch receptor neurons, ultimately modulating the force sensitivity of the animal, and imply that skin plays a critical role in Touch Sensation in both C. elegans and higher organisms.
Michael Krieg - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Mechanical systems biology of C. elegans Touch Sensation.
BioEssays : news and reviews in molecular cellular and developmental biology, 2015Co-Authors: Michael Krieg, Alexander R. Dunn, Miriam B GoodmanAbstract:The sense of Touch informs us of the physical properties of our surroundings and is a critical aspect of communication. Before Touches are perceived, mechanical signals are transmitted quickly and reliably from the skin's surface to mechano-electrical transduction channels embedded within specialized sensory neurons. We are just beginning to understand how soft tissues participate in force transmission and how they are deformed. Here, we review empirical and theoretical studies of single molecules and molecular ensembles thought to be involved in mechanotransmission and apply the concepts emerging from this work to the sense of Touch. We focus on the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans as a well-studied model for Touch Sensation in which mechanics can be studied on the molecular, cellular, and systems level. Finally, we conclude that force transmission is an emergent property of macromolecular cellular structures that mutually stabilize one another.
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mechanical control of the sense of Touch by β spectrin
Nature Cell Biology, 2014Co-Authors: Michael Krieg, Alexander R. Dunn, Miriam B GoodmanAbstract:How sensory neurons integrate mechanical signals during Touch Sensation has remained unclear. Using a combination of laser axotomy and FRET imaging to measure force across single cells and molecules, Goodman and colleagues show that the neuronal spectrin cytoskeleton transduces Touch Sensation in C. elegans.
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Mechanical control of the sense of Touch by β-spectrin
Nature Cell Biology, 2014Co-Authors: Michael Krieg, Alexander R. Dunn, Miriam B GoodmanAbstract:How sensory neurons integrate mechanical signals during Touch Sensation has remained unclear. Using a combination of laser axotomy and FRET imaging to measure force across single cells and molecules, Goodman and colleagues show that the neuronal spectrin cytoskeleton transduces Touch Sensation in C. elegans . The ability to sense and respond to mechanical stimuli emanates from sensory neurons and is shared by most, if not all, animals. Exactly how such neurons receive and distribute mechanical signals during Touch Sensation remains mysterious. Here, we show that Sensation of mechanical forces depends on a continuous, pre-stressed spectrin cytoskeleton inside neurons. Mutations in the tetramerization domain of Caenorhabditis elegans β-spectrin (UNC-70), an actin-membrane crosslinker, cause defects in sensory neuron morphology under compressive stress in moving animals. Through atomic force spectroscopy experiments on isolated neurons, in vivo laser axotomy and fluorescence resonance energy transfer imaging to measure force across single cells and molecules, we show that spectrin is held under constitutive tension in living animals, which contributes to elevated pre-stress in Touch receptor neurons. Genetic manipulations that decrease such spectrin-dependent tension also selectively impair Touch Sensation, suggesting that such pre-tension is essential for efficient responses to external mechanical stimuli.
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Phospholipids that Contain Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids Enhance Neuronal Cell Mechanics and Touch Sensation
Cell reports, 2014Co-Authors: Valeria Vásquez, Michael Krieg, Dean Lockhead, Miriam B GoodmanAbstract:SUMMARY Mechanoelectrical transduction (MeT) channels embedded in neuronal cell membranes are essential for Touch and proprioception. Little is understood about the interplay between native MeT channels and membrane phospholipids, in part because few techniques are available for altering plasma membrane composition in vivo. Here, we leverage genetic dissection, chemical complementation, and optogenetics to establish that arachidonic acid (AA), an omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acid, enhances Touch Sensation and mechanoelectrical transduction activity while incorporated into membrane phospholipids in C. elegans Touch receptor neurons (TRNs). Because dynamic force spectroscopy reveals that AA modulates the mechanical properties of TRN plasma membranes, we propose that this polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) is needed for MeT channel activity. These findings establish that polyunsaturated phospholipids are crucial determinants of both the biochemistry and mechanics of mechanoreceptor neurons and reinforce the idea that sensory mechanotransduction in animals relies on a cellular machine composed of both proteins and membrane lipids.
