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AFD thermosensory neurons mediate tactile-dependent locomotion modulation in <i>C. elegans</i>.

Overview

Authors: Manuel Rosero1,2, Jihong Bai1,2
ORCID iDs: Manuel Rosero, Jihong Bai
  1. Basic Sciences Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Seattle, United States
  2. Molecular and Cellular Biology Graduate Program, University of Washington, Seattle, United States
Institutions: University of Washington (United States); Fred Hutch Cancer Center (United States)
Journal: eLife, volume 14, article RP106496
Dates: published online 27 April 2026
Type: Research article · Language: English
License: CC BY
Identifiers: DOI 10.7554/elife.106496 · PMID 42043297 · PMCID PMC13120819 · OpenAlex W4409360534
Open access: gold, a free copy (OpenAlex)
Status: data only
Categories: C. elegans (organism), cellular / molecular (subfield)
Methods: Statistics, Connectivity, Evoked potentials
Keywords: C. elegans
MeSH: Caenorhabditis elegans*, Locomotion*, Sensory Receptor Cells*, Thermosensing*, Touch*, Animals, Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins, Cyclic GMP, Signal Transduction, Taxis Response (* major topic)
Topic: Genetics, Aging, and Longevity in Model Organisms (Aging, Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology), according to OpenAlex
Funding: NINDS NIH HHS (R01NS109476, F31NS129545, R01NS115974); NIGMS NIH HHS (T32GM136534)
Citations: cited by 1 paper (Europe PMC); 112 references in the paper

Abstract

Sensory neurons drive animal behaviors by detecting environmental stimuli and relaying information to downstream circuits. Beyond their primary roles in sensing, these neurons often form additional synaptic connections outside their main sensory modality, suggesting broader contributions to behavior modulation. Here, we uncover an unexpected role for the thermosensory neuron AFD in coupling tactile experience to locomotion modulation in Caenorhabditis elegans. We show that while AFD employs cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) signaling for both thermotaxis and tactile-dependent modulation, the specific molecular components of the cGMP pathway differ between these two processes. Interestingly, disrupting the dendritic sensory apparatus of AFD, which is essential for thermotaxis, does not impair tactile-based locomotion modulation, indicating that AFD can mediate tactile-dependent behavior independently of its thermosensory apparatus. In contrast, ablating the AFD neuron eliminates tactile-dependent modulation, pointing to an essential role for AFD itself, rather than its sensory dendritic endings. Further, we find tactile-dependent modulation requires the AIB interneuron, which connects AFD to touch circuits via electrical synapses. Removing innexins expressed in AFD and AIB abolishes this modulation, while re-establishing AFD–AIB connections with engineered electrical synapses restores it. Collectively, these findings uncover a previously unrecognized function of AFD beyond thermosensation, highlighting its influence on context-dependent neuroplasticity and behavioral modulation through broader circuit connectivity.

Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY), from the paper cited above.

Code

The paper links to its data, not to its authors' code: see the Data section.

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Data

Datasets cited

Data availability

The data supporting the findings of this study are available in Dryad at https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.k3j9kd5pz.

The following dataset was generated:

Rosero M, Bai J. 2026. AFD thermosensory neurons mediate tactile-dependent locomotion modulation in C. elegans. Dryad Digital Repository.

Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY), from the paper cited above.

Versions

The history of this record: each version stored by the harvester or made by a correction of its authors or of the maintainers of its code, and what changed in its facts. The texts of the paper (its abstract, its availability statements) are not part of it; versions that changed only those are not listed.

Version 1, 30 September 2026: the first record

Recorded: type, language, journal, volume, pages, dates, 2 authors, 1 keyword, 10 MeSH terms, 2 funders, 111 references.

Cite

This paper

Rosero, M., & Bai, J. (2026). AFD thermosensory neurons mediate tactile-dependent locomotion modulation in <i>C. elegans</i>. eLife, 14, RP106496. https://doi.org/10.7554/elife.106496

BibTeX

@article{rosero2026afd,
author = {Rosero, Manuel and Bai, Jihong},
title = {{AFD thermosensory neurons mediate tactile-dependent locomotion modulation in \<i\>C. elegans\</i\>}},
journal = {eLife},
year = {2026},
month = apr,
volume = {14},
pages = {RP106496},
publisher = {eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd},
issn = {2050-084X},
doi = {10.7554/elife.106496},
url = {https://doi.org/10.7554/elife.106496},
pmid = {42043297},
pmcid = {PMC13120819}
}

RIS

TY - JOUR
AU - Rosero, Manuel
AU - Bai, Jihong
TI - AFD thermosensory neurons mediate tactile-dependent locomotion modulation in <i>C. elegans</i>
T2 - eLife
J2 - Elife
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/04/27
VL - 14
SP - RP106496
SN - 2050-084X
PB - eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd
DO - 10.7554/elife.106496
UR - https://doi.org/10.7554/elife.106496
LA - en
ER -

CSL-JSON

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