Journal
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
Volume 9, Issue -, Pages -Publisher
NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-42492-4
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Funding
- Pioneer Research Center Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) - Ministry of Science, ICT & Future Planning [2011-0027921]
- Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) - Ministry of Science, ICT & Future Planning [NRF-2016R1A2B4014795, NRF-2015R1C1A1A02036887]
- grant of the Korea Health Technology R&D Project through the Korea Health Industry Development Institute (KHIDI) - Ministry of Health & Welfare, Republic of Korea [HI15C1540]
- National Research Foundation of Korea [2011-0027921] Funding Source: Korea Institute of Science & Technology Information (KISTI), National Science & Technology Information Service (NTIS)
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Recent parallel studies clearly indicated that Merkel cells and the mechanosensitive piezo2 ion channel play critical roles in the light-touch somatosensation. Moreover, piezo2 was suggested to be a light-touch sensing ion channel without a role in pain sensing in mammals. However, biophysical characteristics of piezo2, such as single channel conductance and sensitivities to various mechanical stimuli, are unclear, hampering a precise understanding of its role in touch sensation. Here, we describe the biophysical properties of piezo2 in human Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC)-13 cells; piezo2 is a low-threshold, positive pressure-specific, curvature-sensitive, mechanically activated cation channel with a single channel conductance of -28.6 pS. Application of step indentations under the whole-cell mode of the patch-clamp technique, and positive pressures >= 5 mmHg under the cell-attached mode, activated piezo2 currents in MCC-13 and human embryonic kidney 293T cells where piezo2 was overexpressed. By contrast, application of a negative pressure failed to activate piezo2 in these cells, whereas both positive and negative pressure activated piezo1 in a similar manner. Our results are the first to demonstrate single channel recordings of piezo2. We anticipate that our findings will be a starting point for a more sophisticated understanding of piezo2 roles in light-touch sensation.
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