Philip P Ratnasamy
The specific purpose of class III DA Drosophila neurons is light touch sensation. In addition to the traditional dendritic branches found in all classes of neurons, class III cells possess small actin-rich spikes lining the entirety of their dendrites. These spikes are likely implicated in the ability of these cells to detect light touch. In this study, we characterize the proteins involved in spike point regulation and in turn the mechanisms underlying light touch sensation.