TRP channels and mechanical transduction

Abstract

Many physiological processes depend on correctly sensing mechanical forces, including hearing, proprioception and touch. Accordingly, much research has focused on the mechanisms and molecules responsible for mechanotransduction. Studies in the fields of genetics, genomics and electrophysiology have converged to further extend our understanding of mechanosensitive events in invertebrates and vertebrates. Indeed, candidate mechanotransduction genes have been identified in mammalian cells, some of which encode the TRP channels expressed in mechanosensitive neurons. In recent years, functional assays have permitted single or multiple ion channel currents flowing through the membrane to be recorded. Such approaches will help determine the biophysical properties of mechanosensitive currents, a crucial step in the quest to identify transduction channels at the molecular level and probe their activity in vivo. Here, the proposed mechanisms to mechanodetection are described, along with the different mechanosensory systems used as models to study mechanotransduction. The TRP channels that represent relevant candidates to be involved in sensing mechanical forces will also be reviewed.