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Preface. <p>List of Contributers.</p> <p><b>1 The Molecular Basis of Touch Sensation as Modeled in</b> <b><i>Caenorhabditis elegans</i></b> (Laura Bianchi and Monica Driscoll).</p> <p>Abstract.</p> <p>1.1 Introduction.</p> <p>1.2 Features of the <i>C. elegans</i> Model System.</p> <p>1.3 Mechanosensation Is a Major Mechanism by Which <i>C. elegans</i> Senses Its Environment.</p> <p>1.4 Gentle Body Touch.</p> <p>1.5 The <i>C. elegans</i> Degenerin Family: A Global Role of Degenerin Channels in Mechanotransduction?</p> <p>1.6 Concluding Remarks.</p> <p>Acknowledgments.</p> <p>References.</p> <p><b>2 Transduction Channels in Hair Cells</b> (Robert Fettiplace).</p> <p>2.1 Introduction.</p> <p>2.2 Gating Mechanism: Channel Kinetics.</p> <p>2.3 Ionic Selectivity.</p> <p>2.4 MET Channel Adaptation.</p> <p>2.5 Single-channel Conductance.</p> <p>2.6 The MET Channel as a Member of the TRP Family.</p> <p>2.7 Conclusions.</p> <p>Acknowledgments.</p> <p>References.</p> <p><b>3 Acid-sensing Ion Channels</b> (Kenneth A. Cushman and Edwin W. McCleskey).</p> <p>3.1 Introduction.</p> <p>3.2 ASICs and the DEG/ENaC Superfamily.</p> <p>3.3 Amino Acid Structure.</p> <p>3.4 Assembly Into Channels.</p> <p>3.5 Pharmacology.</p> <p>3.6 Gating.</p> <p>3.7 Proposed Sensory Functions.</p> <p>3.8 CNS ASICs.</p> <p>3.9 Stroke.</p> <p>3.10 Other pH-activated Channels.</p> <p>References.</p> <p><b>4 Chemosensory Transduction in</b> <b><i>Caenorhabditis elegans</i></b> (Noelle Letoile).</p> <p>4.1 Introduction.</p> <p>4.2 The Chemosensory Organs.</p> <p>4.3 Behavioral Assays.</p> <p>4.4 How Is The Response to Each Stimulus Generated?</p> <p>4.5 Structure of the TAX, Cyclic Nucleotide-gated Channels of the Worm.</p> <p>4.6 Channel Regulation.</p> <p>References.</p> <p><b>5 Vertebrate Olfactory Signal Transduction and the Interplay of Excitatory Anionic and Cationic Currents</b> (Johannes Reisert and Jonathan Bradley).</p> <p>Abstract.</p> <p>5.1 Introduction.</p> <p>5.2 Recording Odor-induced Electrical Activity.</p> <p>5.3 Odorant Responses of Single Isolated Olfactory Receptor Neurons.</p> <p>5.4 Components of the Transduction Pathway.</p> <p>5.5 Cloning of G Proteins Expressed in the OE.</p> <p>5.6 Odorant Receptors.</p> <p>5.7 Cyclic Nucleotide-gated Channel in OE.</p> <p>5.8 Cloning of a CNG Channel Expressed in the OE.</p> <p>5.9 Negative Feedback by Ca²⁺ on the CNG Channel.</p> <p>5.10 The Olfactory Ca<sup>2+</sup<-activated Cl^– Channel.</p> <p>5.11 Activation of the Cl^– Conductance.</p> <p>5.12 Single Channel Properties and Channel Densities.</p> <p>5.13 Regulation of Cl^– Channel Activity.</p> <p>5.14 Amplification of the CNG Current and Generation of the Cl^– Current.</p> <p>5.15 Open Questions.</p> <p>References.</p> <p><b>6 Transduction Channels in the Vomeronasal Organ</b> (Emily R. Liman and Frank Zufall).</p> <p>6.1 Introduction.</p> <p>6.2 Anatomy of the Vomeronasal System.</p> <p>6.3 Sensory Responses Involve Generation of Action Potentials and Ca²⁺ Entry.</p> <p>6.4 Two Families of G-protein-coupled Receptors Mediate VNO Transduction.</p> <p>6.5 Signaling Downstream of G Proteins May Involve a PLC.</p> <p>6.6 Second Messengers for VNO Transduction: Functional Studies.</p> <p>6.7 Identification of the TRPC2 Ion Channel as a Candidate Transduction Channel for VNO Sensory Signaling.</p> <p>6.8 TRPC2 Is Essential for Pheromone Transduction.</p> <p>6.9 Mechanism of TRPC2 Activation.</p> <p>6.10 TRPC2 Knockout Mice: Behavioral Defects.</p> <p>6.11 Loss of VNO Signaling Components in Human Evolution.</p> <p>6.12 Summary: Is TRPC2 the VNO Transduction Channel?</p> <p>Acknowledgements.</p> <p><b>7 Transduction Mechanisms in Taste Cells</b> (Kathryn Medler and Sue C. Kinnamon).</p> <p>7.1 Introduction.</p> <p>7.2 Ionic Stimuli.</p> <p>7.3 Complex Stimuli.</p> <p>7.4 Conclusions.</p> <p><b>8 Invertebrate Phototransduction: Multimolecular Signaling Complexes and the Role of TRP and TRPL Channels</b> (Armin Huber).</p> <p>Abstract.</p> <p>8.1 Introduction.</p> <p>8.2 Structure of the Drosophila Compound Eye and Its Visual Pigments.</p> <p>8.3 The Drosophila Phototransduction Cascade Is a Prototypical G-proteincoupled Signaling Pathway.</p> <p>8.4 Essential Components of the Transduction Pathway Are Organized into a Multimolecular Signaling Complex.</p> <p>8.5 TRP and TRPL, the Transduction Channels of Drosophila Photoreceptors.</p> <p>8.6 Light-dependent Relocation of TRPL Alters the Properties of the Photoreceptive Membrane.</p> <p>8.7 Concluding Remarks and Outlook.</p> <p>Acknowledgments.</p> <p><b>9 The Transduction Channels of Rod and Cone Photoreceptors</b> (U.B. Kaupp and D. Tr&auml;nkner).</p> <p>9.1 Introduction.</p> <p>9.2 Brief Overview.</p> <p>9.3 Function of CNG Channels in Phototransduction and Adaptation.</p> <p>9.4 Structure of Subunits.</p> <p>9.5 Transmembrane Topology and Subunit Stoichiometry.</p> <p>9.6 Interaction of CNG Channels With Other Proteins.</p> <p>9.7 Modulation.</p> <p>9.8 Phosphorylation.</p> <p>9.9 Visual Dysfunction Caused by Mutant CNG Channel Genes.</p> <p>Appendix.</p> <p><b>10 Ion Channels and Thermotransduction</b> (Michael J. Caterina).</p> <p>10.1 Introduction.</p> <p>10.2 Physiological Studies Provide Evidence for the Existence of Thermally Gated Ion Channels.</p> <p>10.3 Molecular Characterization of a Heat-gated Ion Channel, TRPV1.</p> <p>10.4 TRPV2 Is an Ion Channel Activated by Extremely Hot Temperatures.</p> <p>10.5 TRPV3 and TRPV4 Are Warmth-activated Channels.</p> <p>10.6 TRPM8 and ANKTM1 Are Activated by Cool and Cold Temperatures, Respectively.</p> <p>10.7 Non-TRP Channels Implicated in Mammalian Temperature Sensation.</p> <p>10.8 Temperature-sensing Proteins in Non-mammalian Species.</p> <p>10.9 Mechanisms of Temperature Transduction.</p> <p>10.10 Conclusions.</p> <p><b>11 Pain Transduction: Gating and Modulation of Ion Channels</b> (Peter A. McNaughton).</p> <p>11.1 Introduction.</p> <p>11.2 Ion Channels Gated by Noxious Stimuli.</p> <p>11.3 Sensitization by Inflammatory Mediators.</p> <p>11.4 Conclusions.</p> <p><b>12 Transduction and Transmission in Electroreceptor Organs</b> (Robert C. Peters and Jean-Pierre Denizot).</p> <p>Abstract.</p> <p>12.1 Introduction.</p> <p>12.2 Types of Electroreceptor Organs.</p> <p>12.3 How is Transduction at Electroreceptor Cells Studied?</p> <p>12.4 Current Views on Transduction and Transmission in Electroreceptor Organs.</p> <p>12.5 Mucus and Transduction.</p> <p>12.6 Conclusions and Open Ends.</p> <p>Acknowledgments.</p>

<b>Stephan Frings</b> is professor of molecular physiology at Heidelberg University (Germany). Following studies of biology at the University of Konstanz, he completed his Ph.D. in animal physiology in the lab of Anthony D.C. Macknight at the University of Otago, Dunedin (New Zealand). After returning to Germany he worked on transduction channels in olfactory sensory neurons with Bernd Lindemann at the University of the Saarland and with U. Benjamin Kaupp at the Jülich Research Center before moving to Heidelberg University. His group is interested in signal transduction mechanisms of sensory cells, particularly in the regulation of transduction channels.<br /> <br /> <b>Jonathan Bradley</b> is an associate of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, in the laboratory of King-Wai Yau, studying olfactory sensory physiology and signal transduction. He was born in New York and completed his B.S. in biochemistry at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, followed by a Ph. D. in neuroscience at the California Institute of Technology, under the supervision of Kai Zinn. He was a post-doctoral fellow at the Ecole Normale Supérieure in Paris (France), where he worked with Philippe Ascher, before returning to the USA. He lives in Bethesda, Maryland, with his wife Nathalie and two children, Adrien and Morgane.

The editors have assembled expert authors from all fields of sensory physiology for an authoritative overview of the mechanisms of sensory signal transduction in both vertebrates and invertebrates, based on recent evidence on the role of ion channels in primary signal generation. They systematically cover all senses: <ul> <li>Mechanotransduction</li> <li>Chemotransduction</li> <li>Phototransduction</li> <li>Thermotransduction</li> <li>Pain Transduction</li> <li>Electroreception</li> </ul> <p>By linking moleclar biology with sensory physiology, this book provides a molecular level explanation of how the senses work. With its in-depth analysis of the primary steps in signal generation, this volume is essential reading for biologists, physiologists and other scientists with an interest in sensory physiology.</p>

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