Mammalian Mechanoelectrical Transduction: Structure and Function of Force-Gated Ion Channels

Dominique Douguet; Eric Honoré

doi:10.1016/j.cell.2019.08.049

Mammalian Mechanoelectrical Transduction: Structure and Function of Force-Gated Ion Channels

Cell. 2019 Oct 3;179(2):340-354. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2019.08.049.

Authors

Dominique Douguet¹, Eric Honoré²

Affiliations

¹ Université Côte d'Azur, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Institut national de la santé et de la recherche médicale, Institut de Pharmacologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire, Labex ICST, Valbonne, France.
² Université Côte d'Azur, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Institut national de la santé et de la recherche médicale, Institut de Pharmacologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire, Labex ICST, Valbonne, France. Electronic address: honore@ipmc.cnrs.fr.

PMID: 31585078
DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2019.08.049

Abstract

The conversion of force into an electrical cellular signal is mediated by the opening of different types of mechanosensitive ion channels (MSCs), including TREK/TRAAK K_2P channels, Piezo1/2, TMEM63/OSCA, and TMC1/2. Mechanoelectrical transduction plays a key role in hearing, balance, touch, and proprioception and is also implicated in the autonomic regulation of blood pressure and breathing. Thus, dysfunction of MSCs is associated with a variety of inherited and acquired disease states. Significant progress has recently been made in identifying these channels, solving their structure, and understanding the gating of both hyperpolarizing and depolarizing MSCs. Besides prototypical activation by membrane tension, additional gating mechanisms involving channel curvature and/or tethered elements are at play.

Publication types

Review