Work

An unusual potassium conductance protects Caenorhabditis elegans pharyngeal muscle rhythms against environmental noise

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: feeds by rhythmic contraction and relaxation of a neuromuscular organ called the pharynx, which draws in and filters water and bacterial food. This behavior is driven by myogenic plateau potentials, long-lasting depolarizations of the pharyngeal muscle, which are timed by neuronal input from a dedicated pharyngeal nervous system. While the timing of these plateaus' initiation has received significant attention, their mechanisms of termination remain incompletely understood. In particular, it is unclear how plateaus resist early termination by hyperpolarizing current noise. Here, we present a computational model of pharyngeal plateaus against a noisy background. We propose that an unusual, rapidly inactivating potassium conductance confers exceptional noise robustness on the system. We further investigate the possibility that a similar mechanism in other systems permits switching between plateau and spiking behavior under noisy conditions.

Source: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2422709122

Authors: Max Kenngott, Piali Sengupta, Shawn Lockery, Eve Marder

Institutions: Brandeis University, University of Oregon

Language: English

Topic: Ion channel regulation and function

Subfield: Molecular Biology

Field: Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

Domain: Life Sciences

Open Access status: hybrid