Piezo2 integrates mechanical and thermal cues in vertebrate mechanoreceptors.

ABSTRACT: Tactile information is detected by thermoreceptors and mechanoreceptors in the skin and integrated by the central nervous system to produce the perception of somatosensation. Here we investigate the mechanism by which thermal and mechanical stimuli begin to interact and report that it is achieved by the mechanotransduction apparatus in cutaneous mechanoreceptors. We show that moderate cold potentiates the conversion of mechanical force into excitatory current in all types of mechanoreceptors from mice and tactile-specialist birds. This effect is observed at the level of mechanosensitive Piezo2 channels and can be replicated in heterologous systems using Piezo2 orthologs from different species. The cold sensitivity of Piezo2 is dependent on its blade domains, which render the channel resist

SUBMITTER: Zheng W 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6717272 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature