Kinesin-1 Regulates Neuronal Receptive Ending Structure in C. elegans Thermosensory Neurons
Wang Kangrui1,2, Lü Xiaohui1,3, Ou Guangshuo4, Zhu Hao4*
To perceive and respond to temperature changes is an important feature for a living organism. Metazoans develop temperature sensory neurons, which form specialized neuronal receptive endings in their dendrites to sense temperature. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying the formation of dendritic endings in temperature sensory neurons remain elusive, in comparison to our understanding of light, odor and chemicals. AFD (amphid finger-like dendrite) neuron is an essential temperature sensory neuron in the nematode C. elegans. Here, we formed focused ion beam scanning electron microscopy (FIB-SEM) analysis of neuronal receptive ending of AFD neuron in wild-type and mutant animals. Our three-dimensional reconstruction of FIB-SEM images revealed that that the base of AFD neuronal receptive endings in unc-116(e2310)/kinesin-1 mutants was significantly expanded compared to these of WT or kinesin-3 mutant animals. Importantly, an abnormal amount of membrane vesicles ectopically accumulate at the base of AFD neuronal receptive endings. These results showed that kinesin-1-based vesicular transport is important to build the neuronal receptive ending of thermosensory neurons in C. elegans.
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