Toshihiro Sassa and Takashi Murayama, the first and second authors of the paper, respectively, say, «we would like to identify the other genes involved in downstream
signaling from this
calcium channel to understand how the
signal leads to aversion to high pH.» Sensing alkaline environments is only the first step; the worm must then
quickly react to the stimulus by moving away.
In support of the idea that Themis is involved in TCR
signaling, this protein was phosphorylated
quickly after TCR stimulation and was needed for optimal TCR - driven
calcium mobilization and activation of the kinase Erk.