Determining the biomechanics of touch sensation in C. elegans.

ABSTRACT: The sense of touch is a fundamental mechanism that nearly all organisms use to interact with their surroundings. However, the process of mechanotransduction whereby a mechanical stimulus gives rise to a neuronal response is not well understood. In this paper we present an investigation of the biomechanics of touch using the model organism C. elegans. By developing a custom micromanipulation and force sensing system around a high resolution optical microscope, we measured the spatial deformation of the organism's cuticle and force response to controlled uniaxial indentations. We combined these experimental results with anatomical data to create a multilayer computational biomechanical model of the organism and accurately derive its material properties such as the elastic modulus and poisson

SUBMITTER: Elmi M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5615042 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature