Dabbling with Piezo2 for mechanosensation

Dabbling with Piezo2 for mechanosensation.

Nature has devised various strategies for sensing food so species can coexist and exploit different types of prey. Sharks can detect amino acids in blood as low as 1 ppb, while hawks and buzzards scan the Earth from a height of ∼10,000 feet looking for rodents. However, not all birds rely on their keen sense of sight to acquire food. Albatross hover above the water to smell floating food and fo...

Assaying mechanosensation.

C. elegans detect and respond to diverse mechanical stimuli using neuronal circuitry that has been defined by decades of work by C. elegans researchers. In this WormMethods chapter, we review and comment on the techniques currently used to assess mechanosensory response. This methods review is intended both as an introduction for those new to the field and a convenient compendium for the expert...

Mechanosensation * Miriam

Wild C. elegans and other nematodes live in dirt and eat bacteria, relying on mechanoreceptor neurons (MRNs) to detect collisions with soil particles and other animals as well as forces generated by their own movement. MRNs may also help animals detect bacterial food sources. Hermaphrodites and males have 22 putative MRNs; males have an additional 46 MRNs, most, if not all of which are needed f...

Mechanosensation: Tethered Ion Channels

Two new studies show that the Drosophila transient receptor potential (TRP) family member NOMPC forms both a mechanically gated ion channel and a fine filament that, by tethering the protein to microtubules, might act as a gating spring.

Cardiac Myocytes and Mechanosensation