Department of Medical Chemistry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Debrecen, 4032 Debrecen, Hungary.
Center of Excellence, The Hungarian Academy of Sciences, 4032 Debrecen, Hungary.
Int J Mol Sci. 2022 Dec 22;24(1):177. doi: 10.3390/ijms24010177.
Normal gastrointestinal function relies on sensing and transducing mechanical signals into changes in intracellular signaling pathways. Both specialized mechanosensing cells, such as certain enterochromaffin cells and enteric neurons, and non-specialized cells, such as smooth muscle cells, interstitial cells of Cajal, and resident macrophages, participate in physiological and pathological responses to mechanical signals in the gastrointestinal tract. We review the role of mechanosensors in the different cell types of the gastrointestinal tract. Then, we provide several examples of the role of mechanotransduction in normal physiology. These examples highlight the fact that, although these responses to mechanical signals have been known for decades, the mechanosensors involved in these responses to mechanical signals are largely unknown. Finally, we discuss several diseases involving the overstimulation or dysregulation of mechanotransductive pathways. Understanding these pathways and identifying the mechanosensors involved in these diseases may facilitate the identification of new drug targets to effectively treat these diseases.
正常的胃肠道功能依赖于对机械信号的感应和转导，从而引起细胞内信号通路的改变。专门的机械感受器细胞（如某些肠嗜铬细胞和肠神经元）和非专门的细胞（如平滑肌细胞、Cajal 间质细胞和固有巨噬细胞）都参与胃肠道机械信号的生理和病理反应。我们综述了机械感受器在胃肠道不同细胞类型中的作用。然后，我们提供了机械转导在正常生理中的几个作用的例子。这些例子强调了这样一个事实，即尽管这些对机械信号的反应已经被人们知晓了几十年，但参与这些机械信号反应的机械感受器在很大程度上仍是未知的。最后，我们讨论了几种涉及机械转导途径过度刺激或失调的疾病。了解这些途径并确定这些疾病中涉及的机械感受器可能有助于识别新的药物靶点，从而有效地治疗这些疾病。
