Mechanistic basis for low threshold mechanosensitivity in voltage-dependent K+ channels.

ABSTRACT: Living cells respond to mechanical forces applied to their outer membrane through processes referred to as "mechanosensation". Faced with hypotonic shock, to circumvent cell lysis, bacteria open large solute-passing channels to reduce the osmotic pressure gradient. In the vascular beds of vertebrate animals blood flow is regulated directly through mechanical distention-induced opening of stretch-activated channels in smooth muscle cells. Touch sensation is thought to originate in mechanically sensitive ion channels in nerve endings, and hearing in mechanically sensitive ion channels located in specialized cells of the ear. While the ubiquity of mechanosensation in living cells is evident, the ion channels underlying the transduction events in vertebrate animals have remained elusive. Here

SUBMITTER: Schmidt D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3387069 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature