PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Reina Aoki
AU  - Tatsurou Yagami
AU  - Hiroyuki Sasakura
AU  - Ken-ichi Ogura
AU  - Yasuhiro Kajihara
AU  - Masakazu Ibi
AU  - Takeaki Miyamae
AU  - Fumio Nakamura
AU  - Taro Asakura
AU  - Yoshikatsu Kanai
AU  - Yoshimi Misu
AU  - Yuichi Iino
AU  - Marina Ezcurra
AU  - William R. Schafer
AU  - Ikue Mori
AU  - Yoshio Goshima
TI  - A Seven-Transmembrane Receptor That Mediates Avoidance Response to Dihydrocaffeic Acid, a Water-Soluble Repellent in <em>Caenorhabditis elegans</em>
AID  - 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4018-11.2011
DP  - 2011 Nov 16
TA  - The Journal of Neuroscience
PG  - 16603--16610
VI  - 31
IP  - 46
4099  - http://www.jneurosci.org/content/31/46/16603.short
4100  - http://www.jneurosci.org/content/31/46/16603.full
SO  - J. Neurosci.2011 Nov 16; 31
AB  - The ability to detect harmful chemicals rapidly is essential for the survival of all animals. In Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans), repellents trigger an avoidance response, causing animals to move away from repellents. Dihydrocaffeic acid (DHCA) is a water-soluble repellent and nonflavonoid catecholic compound that can be found in plant products. Using a Xenopus laevis (X. laevis) oocyte expression system, we identified a candidate dihydrocaffeic acid receptor (DCAR), DCAR-1. DCAR-1 is a novel seven-transmembrane protein that is expressed in the ASH avoidance sensory neurons of C. elegans. dcar-1 mutant animals are defective in avoidance response to DHCA, and cell-specific expression of dcar-1 in the ASH neurons of dcar-1 mutant animals rescued the defect in avoidance response to DHCA. Our findings identify DCAR-1 as the first seven-transmembrane receptor required for avoidance of a water-soluble repellent, DHCA, in C. elegans.