Piezo1 regulates the mechanotransduction of soft matrix viscoelasticity.

ABSTRACT: Mechanosensitive ion channels such as Piezo1 have fundamental roles in sensing the mechanical properties of the extracellular matrix. However, whether and how Piezo1 senses time-dependent matrix mechanical properties, that is, viscoelasticity, remains unknown. To address this question, we combine an immortalised mesenchymal stem cell line, in which Piezo1 expression can be silenced, with soft and stiff viscoelastic hydrogels that have independently tuneable elastic and viscous moduli. We demonstrate that Piezo1 is a regulator of the mechanotransduction of viscoelasticity in soft matrices, both experimentally and through simulations incorporating Piezo1 into a modified viscoelastic molecular clutch model. Using RNA sequencing, we also identify the transcriptomic responses of mesenchymal ste

SUBMITTER: A G Oliva M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12528374 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature