We describe a novel mechanism for vital fluorescent dye entry into sensory cells and neurons: permeation through ion channels. In addition to the slow conventional uptake of styryl dyes by endocytosis, small styryl dyes such as FM1-43 rapidly and specifically label hair cells in the inner ear by entering through open mechanotransduction channels. This labeling can be blocked by pharmacological ...

Significance Paclitaxel is a common chemotherapeutic agent and often causes form of sensory dysfunction termed chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN). There no approved therapy to counteract CIPN, although the CIPN symptoms interfere with effective cancer treatment impose long-term health economic burdens for survivors. As chemotherapy still first-line many patients, understanding ba...

The ultrastructural differentiation and central projection of identified bristle mechanosensory neurons were examined in Drosophila mutants lacking action potentials. Two mutations, parats1 and napts, are known to block axonal conduction in centrally located neurons at high temperatures. Their effects on epithelial sensory cells, which are derived from imaginal disks during pupation, have not b...

Dorsal root ganglia (DRG) contain somatosensory neurons of diverse sensory modalities. Among these different types of sensory neurons, the molecular mechanisms that regulate the development and specification of touch neurons are the least well understood. We took a candidate approach and searched for transcription factors that are expressed in subsets of DRG neurons, and found that the transcri...

In cellular studies of habituation, such as in the gill and siphon withdrawal reflex to tactile stimulation of the siphon of Aplysia, a mechanism that has emerged as an explanation for response decrement during habituation is homosynaptic depression at sensory neurons mediating the behavioral response. We have examined the contribution of homosynaptic depression to habituation in sensory neuron...