Axonal Mechanotransduction Drives Cytoskeletal Responses to Physiological Mechanical Forces.

ABSTRACT: Axons experience strong mechanical forces due to animal movement. While these forces serve as sensory cues in mechanosensory neurons, their impact on other neuron types remains poorly defined. Here, we uncover signaling that controls an axonal cytoskeletal response to external physiological forces and plays a key role in axonal integrity. Live imaging of microtubules at single-polymer resolution in a C. elegans motor neuron reveals local oscillatory movements that fine-tune polymer positioning. Combining cell-specific chemogenetic silencing with targeted degradation alleles to distinguish neuron-intrinsic from extrinsic regulators of these movements, we find that they are driven by muscle contractions and require the mechanosensitive protein Talin, the small GTPase RhoA, and actomyo

SUBMITTER: Swaim GL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11844441 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature