title: Baroreceptor mechanisms at the cellular level.
abstract: Nothing is known of transduction mechanisms of baroreceptors in vivo. Not even the site of transduction is known. However, there are mechanotransducer ion channels that provide a useful model system of transduction. In these channels, transduction is accomplished by a strain-dependent increase in the probability of being open. Membrane tension is coupled to the channel by cytoskeletal strands that concentrate the strain energy from a large (approximately equal to 4000 A diameter) area of membrane and thereby provide high sensitivity. The channel is fast and does not inactivate, but viscoelastic coupling to the channel can dramatically alter the transfer function.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000502:physiology; D003599:Cytoskeleton / Q000502:physiology; D004548:Elasticity; D007473:Ion Channels / Q000502:physiology; D007700:Kinetics; D008465:Mechanoreceptors / Q000502:physiology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D008959:Models, Neurological; D011311:Pressoreceptors / Q000502:physiology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D051381:Rats; D013314:Stress, Mechanical; D014783:Viscosity
chemical_list: D007473:Ion Channels