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The role of Drosophila Piezo in mechanical nociception

Overview of attention for article published in Nature, February 2012
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  • In the top 25% of all research outputs scored by Altmetric
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age (88th percentile)
  • Average Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age and source

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Citations

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409 Dimensions

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637 Mendeley
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Title
The role of Drosophila Piezo in mechanical nociception
Published in
Nature, February 2012
DOI 10.1038/nature10801
Pubmed ID
Authors

Sung Eun Kim, Bertrand Coste, Abhishek Chadha, Boaz Cook, Ardem Patapoutian

Abstract

Transduction of mechanical stimuli by receptor cells is essential for senses such as hearing, touch and pain. Ion channels have a role in neuronal mechanotransduction in invertebrates; however, functional conservation of these ion channels in mammalian mechanotransduction is not observed. For example, no mechanoreceptor potential C (NOMPC), a member of transient receptor potential (TRP) ion channel family, acts as a mechanotransducer in Drosophila melanogaster and Caenorhabditis elegans; however, it has no orthologues in mammals. Degenerin/epithelial sodium channel (DEG/ENaC) family members are mechanotransducers in C. elegans and potentially in D. melanogaster; however, a direct role of its mammalian homologues in sensing mechanical force has not been shown. Recently, Piezo1 (also known as Fam38a) and Piezo2 (also known as Fam38b) were identified as components of mechanically activated channels in mammals. The Piezo family are evolutionarily conserved transmembrane proteins. It is unknown whether they function in mechanical sensing in vivo and, if they do, which mechanosensory modalities they mediate. Here we study the physiological role of the single Piezo member in D. melanogaster (Dmpiezo; also known as CG8486). Dmpiezo expression in human cells induces mechanically activated currents, similar to its mammalian counterparts. Behavioural responses to noxious mechanical stimuli were severely reduced in Dmpiezo knockout larvae, whereas responses to another noxious stimulus or touch were not affected. Knocking down Dmpiezo in sensory neurons that mediate nociception and express the DEG/ENaC ion channel pickpocket (ppk) was sufficient to impair responses to noxious mechanical stimuli. Furthermore, expression of Dmpiezo in these same neurons rescued the phenotype of the constitutive Dmpiezo knockout larvae. Accordingly, electrophysiological recordings from ppk-positive neurons revealed a Dmpiezo-dependent, mechanically activated current. Finally, we found that Dmpiezo and ppk function in parallel pathways in ppk-positive cells, and that mechanical nociception is abolished in the absence of both channels. These data demonstrate the physiological relevance of the Piezo family in mechanotransduction in vivo, supporting a role of Piezo proteins in mechanosensory nociception.

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Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 637 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
United States 11 2%
Germany 8 1%
United Kingdom 3 <1%
France 2 <1%
India 2 <1%
Chile 1 <1%
Austria 1 <1%
Portugal 1 <1%
Turkey 1 <1%
Other 2 <1%
Unknown 605 95%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Student > Ph. D. Student 194 30%
Researcher 130 20%
Student > Master 55 9%
Student > Bachelor 45 7%
Professor > Associate Professor 43 7%
Other 101 16%
Unknown 69 11%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Agricultural and Biological Sciences 260 41%
Neuroscience 115 18%
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology 79 12%
Medicine and Dentistry 39 6%
Engineering 21 3%
Other 42 7%
Unknown 81 13%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 11. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 20 June 2022.
All research outputs
#3,104,368
of 24,723,421 outputs
Outputs from Nature
#49,895
of 95,733 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#18,434
of 160,465 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Nature
#682
of 1,042 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 24,723,421 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done well and is in the 87th percentile: it's in the top 25% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 95,733 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 101.9. This one is in the 47th percentile – i.e., 47% of its peers scored the same or lower than it.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 160,465 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done well, scoring higher than 88% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 1,042 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one is in the 34th percentile – i.e., 34% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.