Conserved basal lamina proteins, laminin and nidogen, are repurposed to organize mechanosensory complexes responsible for touch sensation

Summary The sense of touch is conferred by the conjoint function of somatosensory neurons and skin cells. These cells meet across a gap filled by a basal lamina, an ancient structure found in metazoans. Using Caenorhabditis elegans , we show that membrane-matrix complexes containing laminin, nidogen, and the MEC-4 mechano-electrical transduction channel reside at this interface and are instrumenta…