2020 Volume 37 Issue 2 Pages 103-110
Humans receive multiple environmental stimuli by sensory neurons and transmit their information to brain. The nervous system in brain integrates and discriminates their information, and sends appropriate instructions to various tissues in the body. However, molecular physiological mechanisms underlying integration and discrimination of multiple signals in nervous system remain poorly understood. Here, we review that cold acclimation in C. elegans can be useful experimental model for studying the neuronal circuit integrating two different environmental factors, temperature and oxygen. C. elegans can appropriately adapt to environmental change by integrating and distinguishing multiple sensory information in neuronal circuit consisting of only 302 neurons. Recently, we have found KQT-type potassium channel (KQT-2) is involved in cold acclimation. Interestingly, kqt-2 mutant showed stronger abnormal cold acclimation when they cultivated at higher oxygen concentration. The temperature-sensing neuron expressing KQT-2 potassium channel has connection from an oxygen-sensing neuron. Ca2+ imaging analysis suggested that the neuronal activity of the temperature-sensing neuron is modulated by oxygen signaling. We have proposed that molecular mechanisms and the simple neural circuit integrating two different sensory information.
