Polycystins under pressure.
All cells detect mechanical signals, but the underlying molecular mechanisms are unclear. In this issue of Cell, Sharif-Naeini et al. (2009) show that a candidate mechanosensing channel, TRPP2 (PKD2), unexpectedly acts as an inhibitor of a still-elusive stretch-activated cation channel in vascular smooth muscle cells.
Nilius
Bernd
B
KU Leuven, Department of Molecular Cell Biology, Laboratory Ion Channel Research, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium. bernd.nilius@med.kuleuven.be
D000818:Animals; D051379:Mice; D009131:Muscle, Smooth, Vascular / Q000502:physiology*; D032389:Myocytes, Smooth Muscle; D050396:TRPP Cation Channels / Q000737:chemistry / Q000502:physiology*
D050396:TRPP Cation Channels