Department of Molecular and Cellular Physiology, Stanford University , Stanford, CA, USA.
Department of Biology, Center for Engineering Mechanobiology, Washington University in St. Louis , St. Louis, MO, USA.
J Gen Physiol. 2023 Mar 6;155(3). doi: 10.1085/jgp.202213248. Epub 2023 Jan 25.
This Viewpoint, which accompanies a Special Issue focusing on membrane mechanosensors, discusses unifying and unique features of both established and emerging mechanosensitive (MS) membrane proteins, their distribution across protein families and phyla, and current and future challenges in the study of these important proteins and their partners. MS membrane proteins are essential for tissue development, cellular motion, osmotic homeostasis, and sensing external and self-generated mechanical cues like those responsible for touch and proprioception. Though researchers' attention and this Viewpoint focus on a few famous ion channels that are considered the usual suspects as MS mechanosensors, we also discuss some of the more unusual suspects, such as G-protein coupled receptors. As the field continues to grow, so too will the list of proteins suspected to function as mechanosensors and the diversity of known MS membrane proteins.
这篇观点文章与一个特刊一同发表，该特刊聚焦于膜机械感受器，讨论了已确立和新兴的机械敏感（MS）膜蛋白的统一和独特特征，它们在蛋白质家族和门中的分布，以及研究这些重要蛋白质及其伴侣的当前和未来挑战。MS 膜蛋白对于组织发育、细胞运动、渗透平衡以及感知外部和自身产生的机械线索（如负责触觉和本体感觉的线索）至关重要。尽管研究人员的注意力和这篇观点文章集中在一些被认为是 MS 机械感受器的“嫌疑犯”的著名离子通道上，但我们也讨论了一些更不寻常的“嫌疑犯”，如 G 蛋白偶联受体。随着该领域的持续发展，被怀疑作为机械感受器发挥作用的蛋白质列表以及已知的 MS 膜蛋白的多样性也将增加。
