title: Physical limits on cellular directional mechanosensing.
abstract: Many eukaryotic cells are able to perform directional mechanosensing by directly measuring minute spatial differences in the mechanical stress on their membranes. Here, we explore the limits of a single mechanosensitive channel activation using a two-state double-well model for the gating mechanism. We then focus on the physical limits of directional mechanosensing by a single cell having multiple mechanosensors and subjected to a shear flow inducing a nonuniform membrane tension. Our results demonstrate that the accuracy in sensing the mechanostimulus direction not only increases with cell size and exposure to a signal, but also grows for cells with a near-critical membrane prestress. Finally, the existence of a nonlinear threshold effect, fundamentally limiting the cell's ability to effectively perform directional mechanosensing at a low signal-to-noise ratio, is uncovered.
authors.affiliation: Singapore University of Technology and Design, 20 Dover Drive, Singapore 138682.
authors.forename: Roland
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bouffanais
authors.forename: Jianmin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Dick K P
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Yue
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D022081:Cell Surface Extensions / Q000502:physiology*; D003198:Computer Simulation; D006801:Humans; D015640:Ion Channel Gating / Q000502:physiology*; D007473:Ion Channels / Q000502:physiology*; D008465:Mechanoreceptors / Q000502:physiology*; D040542:Mechanotransduction, Cellular / Q000502:physiology*; D008954:Models, Biological; D013314:Stress, Mechanical
chemical_list: D007473:Ion Channels