title: Mechanosensitive channels: insights from continuum-based simulations.
abstract: Mechanotransduction plays an important role in regulating cell functions and it is an active topic of research in biophysics. Despite recent advances in experimental and numerical techniques, the intrinsic multiscale nature imposes tremendous challenges for revealing the working mechanisms of mechanosensitive channels. Recently, a continuum-mechanics-based hierarchical modeling and simulation framework has been established and applied to study the mechanical responses and gating behaviors of a prototypical mechanosensitive channel, the mechanosensitive channel of large conductance (MscL) in bacteria Escherichia coli (E. coli), from which several putative gating mechanisms have been tested and new insights are deduced. This article reviews these latest findings using the continuum mechanics framework and suggests possible improvements for future simulation studies. This computationally efficient and versatile continuum-mechanics-based protocol is poised to make contributions to the study of a variety of mechanobiology problems.
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics, Nanomechanics Research Center, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA.
authors.forename: Yuye
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Jejoong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yoo
authors.forename: Arun
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yethiraj
authors.forename: Qiang
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Cui
authors.forename: Xi
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D003198:Computer Simulation; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000737:chemistry / Q000502:physiology; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000502:physiology*; D015640:Ion Channel Gating / Q000502:physiology*; D007473:Ion Channels / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000502:physiology*; D040542:Mechanotransduction, Cellular / Q000502:physiology*; D008954:Models, Biological; D011487:Protein Conformation
chemical_list: D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins; D007473:Ion Channels; C086596:MscL protein, E coli
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