A hyperpolarizing neuron recruits undocked innexin hemichannels to transmit neural information in <i>Caenorhabditis elegans</i>.

ABSTRACT: While depolarization of the neuronal membrane is known to evoke the neurotransmitter release from synaptic vesicles, hyperpolarization is regarded as a resting state of chemical neurotransmission. Here, we report that hyperpolarizing neurons can actively signal neural information by employing undocked hemichannels. We show that UNC-7, a member of the innexin family in Caenorhabditis elegans, functions as a hemichannel in thermosensory neurons and transmits temperature information from the thermosensory neurons to their postsynaptic interneurons. By monitoring neural activities in freely behaving animals, we find that hyperpolarizing thermosensory neurons inhibit the activity of the interneurons and that UNC-7 hemichannels regulate this process. UNC-7 is required to control thermotax

SUBMITTER: Nakayama A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11127054 | biostudies-literature | 2024 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature