ArticleCurrent biology : CB2010
Pickpocket is a DEG/ENaC protein required for mechanical nociception in Drosophila larvae.
Article in Current biology : CB, 2010. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 173 papers.
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Who cites it
173 citing papers in PubMed, 305 citations in OpenAlex.
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- From nociception in aneural animals to human suffering: toward a comparative biology of pain.The Journal of experimental biology · 2025Review
- The Drosophila DEG/ENaC PPK12 is a NaScientific reports · 2025Article
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- 'Mitotic' kinesin-5 is a dynamic brake for axonal growth in Drosophila.Development (Cambridge, England) · 2025Article
- Nociception inCold Spring Harbor protocols · 2025Article
- Mechanical Nociception Assay inCold Spring Harbor protocols · 2025Article
113 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Highly branched class IV multidendritic sensory neurons of the Drosophila larva function as polymodal nociceptors that are necessary for behavioral responses to noxious heat (>39 degrees C) or noxious mechanical (>30 mN) stimuli. However, the molecular mechanisms that allow these cells to detect both heat and force are unknown. Here, we report that the pickpocket (ppk) gene, which encodes a Degenerin/Epithelial Sodium Channel (DEG/ENaC) subunit, is required for mechanical nociception but not thermal nociception in these sensory cells. Larvae mutant for pickpocket show greatly reduced nociception behaviors in response to harsh mechanical stimuli. However, pickpocket mutants display normal behavioral responses to gentle touch. Tissue-specific knockdown of pickpocket in nociceptors phenocopies the mechanical nociception impairment without causing defects in thermal nociception behavior. Finally, optogenetically triggered nociception behavior is unaffected by pickpocket RNAi, which indicates that ppk is not generally required for the excitability of the nociceptors. Interestingly, DEG/ENaCs are known to play a critical role in detecting gentle touch stimuli in Caenorhabditis elegans and have also been implicated in some aspects of harsh touch sensation in mammals. Our results suggest that neurons that detect harsh touch in Drosophila utilize similar mechanosensory molecules.
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