Abstract

Caenorhabditis elegans has a simple nervous system of 302 neurons. It however senses environmental cues incredibly precisely and produces various behaviors by processing information in the neural circuit. In addition to classical genetic analysis, fluorescent proteins and calcium indicators enable in vivo monitoring of protein dynamics and neural activity on either fixed or free-moving worms. These analyses have provided the detailed molecular mechanisms of neuronal and systemic signaling that regulate worm responses. Here, we focus on responses of C. elegans against temperature and review key findings that regulate thermotaxis and cold tolerance. Thermotaxis of C. elegans has been studied extensively for almost 50 years, and cold tolerance is a relatively recent concept in C. elegans. Although both thermotaxis and cold tolerance require temperature sensation, the responsible neurons and molecular pathways are different, and C. elegans uses the proper mechanisms depending on its situation. We summarize the molecular mechanisms of the major thermosensory circuit as well as the modulatory strategy through neural and tissue communication that enables fine tuning of thermotaxis and cold tolerance.

摘要

秀丽隐杆线虫具有由302个神经元组成的简单神经系统。但是，它通过处理神经回路中的信息来精确地感知环境线索，并产生各种行为。除了经典的遗传分析之外，荧光蛋白和钙指示剂还可以在体内监测固定蠕虫或自由蠕虫的蛋白质动力学和神经活动。这些分析提供了调节蠕虫反应的神经元和全身性信号传导的详细分子机制。在这里，我们专注于秀丽隐杆线虫对温度的响应，并综述调节热出租车和耐寒性的主要发现。趋热的线虫耐寒性已被广泛研究了近50年，在线虫中，耐寒性是一个相对较新的概念。尽管趋热性和耐寒性都需要温度感应，但是负责的神经元和分子途径不同，秀丽隐杆线虫根据情况使用适当的机制。我们总结了主要热传感电路的分子机制以及通过神经和组织通讯实现的热力学和耐寒性的微调的调节策略。