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Drosophila Mechanotransduction—Linking Proteins and Functions
Jörg T. Albert, Björn Nadrowski and Martin C. Göpfert
volume 1 | issue 4
July/August 2007Pages: 238 - 241
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The sensation of touch, gravity, and sound all rely on dedicated ion channels that transduce mechanical stimulus forces into electrical response signals. The functional workings and molecular identities of these mechanotransducer channels are little understood. Recent work shows that the mechanotransducers for fly and vertebrate hearing share equivalent gating mechanisms, whereby this mechanism can be probed non-invasively in the mechanics of the Drosophila ear. Here, we describe how this mechanics can be used to evaluate the roles of identified proteins in the process of mechanosensation and, specifically, their contributions to mechanotransduction.
Authors
Jörg T. Albert
University Cologne
Björn Nadrowski
University of Cologne
Martin C. Göpfert
University of Cologne