Revisiting TRPC1 and TRPC6 mechanosensitivity

This article addresses whether TRPC1 or TRPC6 is an essential component of a mammalian stretch-activated mechano-sensitive Ca2+ permeable cation channel (MscCa). We have transiently expressed TRPC1 and TRPC6 in African green monkey kidney (COS) or Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells and monitored the activity of the stretch-activated channels using a fast pressure clamp system. Although both TRPC1 and TRPC6 are highly expressed at the protein level, the amplitude of the mechano-sensitive current is not significantly altered by overexpression of these subunits. In conclusion, although several TRPC channel members, including TRPC1 and TRPC6, have been recently proposed to form MscCa in vertebrate cells, the functional expression of these TRPC subunits in heterologous systems remains problematic.