title: The biophysics of piezo1 and piezo2 mechanosensitive channels.
abstract: The ability to sense mechanical stimuli and elaborate a response to them is a fundamental process in all organisms, driving crucial mechanisms ranging from cell volume regulation up to organ development or regeneration. Nevertheless, only in few cases the underlying molecular players are known. In particular, mammals possess a large variety of mechanoreceptors, providing highly specialized functions in sensory cells, but also several housekeeping molecular systems are involved in the complex mechanism of mechanotransduction. Recently, a new class of almost ubiquitous membrane channels has been identified in mammalians, namely piezo1 and piezo2, that is thought to play a crucial role in the mechanobiology of mammals. This review focuses on recent findings on these novel channels, and highlights open biophysical questions that largely remain to be addressed.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biophysics, National Research Council, Genova, Italy.
authors.forename: Luca
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Soattin
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biophysics, National Research Council, Genova, Italy.
authors.forename: Michele
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fiore
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biophysics, National Research Council, Genova, Italy.
authors.forename: Paola
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gavazzo
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biophysics, National Research Council, Genova, Italy.
authors.forename: Federica
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Viti
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biophysics, National Research Council, Genova, Italy.
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Facci
authors.affiliation: Department of Informatics, Bioengineering, Robotics, and System Engineering, University of Genova, Genova, Italy.
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Raiteri
authors.affiliation: Neuroscience and Brain Technologies, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Genova, Italy.
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Difato
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biophysics, National Research Council, Genova, Italy.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pusch
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biophysics, National Research Council, Genova, Italy. Electronic address: massimo.vassalli@cnr.it.
authors.forename: Massimo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vassalli
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D007473:Ion Channels / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D007473:Ion Channels; C515204:PIEZO1 protein, human; C000589132:PIEZO2 protein, human
keywords: Mechanobiology; Mechanoreceptor; Mechanotransduction; Piezo1; Piezo2