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Updated: Jul 10, 2026

Membrane Transport Processes Analyzed by a Highly Parallel Nanopore Chip System at Single Protein Resolution
Published on: August 16, 2016
Molecular identification of a eukaryotic, stretch-activated nonselective cation channel
M Kanzaki1, M Nagasawa, I Kojima
1Laboratory of Cell Biology, Institute for Molecular and Cellular Regulation, Gunma University, Maebashi, Gunma 371-8510, Japan.
Abstract:
Calcium-permeable, stretch-activated nonselective cation (SA Cat) channels mediate cellular responses to mechanical stimuli. However, genes encoding such channels have not been identified in eukaryotes. The yeast MID1 gene product (Mid1) is required for calcium influx in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Functional expression of Mid1 in Chinese hamster ovary cells conferred sensitivity to mechanical stress that resulted in increases in both calcium conductance and the concentration of cytosolic free calcium. These increases were dependent on the presence of extracellular calcium and were reduced by gadolinium, a blocker of SA Cat channels. Single-channel analyses with cell-attached patches revealed that Mid1 acts as a calcium-permeable, cation-selective stretch-activated channel with a conductance of 32 picosiemens at 150 millimolar cesium chloride in the pipette. Thus, Mid1 appears to be a eukaryotic, SA Cat channel.
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