Mechanosensitive Cation Currents and their Molecular Counterparts in Mammalian Sensory Neurons

Abstract

Although all animals employ mechanical sensations to apprehend their external and internal environments, the molecular transduction mechanisms involved in the detection of mechanical stimuli remain obscure. Mechanoreceptive somatosensory neurons are responsible for the transduction of mechanical stimuli into action potentials that propagate to the central nervous system. The ability of these sensory neurons to detect mechanical information relies on the presence of mechanosensitive channels that rapidly transform external mechanical forces into electrical signals. In the few past years, genetic approaches coupled to functional studies have provided insights into the basic mechanisms by which the senses of touch and pain are transduced in mammals. This review summarizes the methodological approaches and properties of mechanically gated ion channels in mammalian somatosensory neurons.