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Related Concept Videos

Mechanically-gated Ion Channels01:12

Mechanically-gated Ion Channels

Mechanically-gated ion channels are proteins found in eukaryotic and prokaryotic cell membranes that open in response to mechanical stress. Tension, compression, swelling, and shear stress can alter the conformation of the protein, opening a transmembrane channel that allows the passage of ions for signal transmission. In eukaryotes, mechanically-gated channels are distributed in several regions like the neurons, lungs, skin, bladder, and heart, where they play critical roles in numerous...
Mechanically-gated Ion Channels01:12

Mechanically-gated Ion Channels

Mechanically-gated ion channels are proteins found in eukaryotic and prokaryotic cell membranes that open in response to mechanical stress. Tension, compression, swelling, and shear stress can alter the conformation of the protein, opening a transmembrane channel that allows the passage of ions for signal transmission. In eukaryotes, mechanically-gated channels are distributed in several regions like the neurons, lungs, skin, bladder, and heart, where they play critical roles in numerous...
Ion Channels01:19

Ion Channels

The movement of ions like sodium, potassium, and calcium into and out of the cell is essential to maintain the electrochemical gradient in living cells. The ion channels—a class of membrane transport proteins—help maintain this ionic gradient for the smooth functioning of physiological activities such as maintaining cell size and volume, conducting nerve impulses, and gas and nutrient exchange.
Ion channels are specialized integral membrane proteins on the plasma membrane that allow specific...
Microbial Biosensors01:17

Microbial Biosensors

Microbial biosensors are analytical devices that utilize living microbes to detect specific substances through measurable signals. These devices consist of two main components: biosensing organisms and signal-transducing elements. Biosensing organisms, such as Escherichia coli or Saccharomyces cerevisiae, are typically housed in multiwell plates connected to transducers, enabling rapid, real-time detection of target analytes.Signal Generation MechanismWhen a target analyte—such as...
Channel Rhodopsins01:11

Channel Rhodopsins

Most organisms use photoreceptors to sense and respond to light. Examples of photoreceptors include bacteriorhodopsins and bacteriophytochromes in some bacteria, phytochromes in plants, and rhodopsins in the photoreceptor cells of the vertebral retina. The light-sensitive property of these receptors is because of the bound chromophores, such as bilin in the phytochromes and retinal in the rhodopsins.
Rhodopsins belong to the family of cell surface proteins called G-protein coupled receptors,...
Ligand-gated Ion Channels01:19

Ligand-gated Ion Channels

Ligand-gated ion channels are transmembrane proteins with a channel for ions to pass through and a binding site for a ligand. The channel opens only when a ligand attaches to the binding site.
Three Subfamilies of Ligand-gated Ion Channels
Ligand-gated ion channels fall into three subfamilies. The 'Cys-loop' includes the nicotinic acetylcholine receptors, γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), glycine, and 5-hydroxytryptamine receptors. The second one is the 'Pore-loop' channels that include the...

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 9, 2026

Multifunctional, Micropipette-based Method for Incorporation And Stimulation of Bacterial Mechanosensitive Ion Channels in Droplet Interface Bilayers
09:54

Multifunctional, Micropipette-based Method for Incorporation And Stimulation of Bacterial Mechanosensitive Ion Channels in Droplet Interface Bilayers

Published on: November 19, 2015

Mechanosensitive channels in microbes.

Ching Kung1, Boris Martinac, Sergei Sukharev

  • 1Laboratory of Molecular Biology and Department of Genetics, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, USA. ckung@wisc.edu

Annual Review of Microbiology
|September 10, 2010
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Cells use mechanosensitive (MS) channels to respond to mechanical forces like osmotic pressure. These channels open under pressure, releasing molecules to prevent cell damage, serving as models for protein-force interactions.

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Area of Science:

  • Cell biology
  • Biophysics
  • Microbiology

Background:

  • Cells detect and respond to mechanical forces, with osmotic pressure being a fundamental environmental factor.
  • Mechanosensitive (MS) channels are evolved proteins that directly open in response to membrane tension caused by turgor pressure.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review the fundamental concept of how proteins embedded in the lipid bilayer respond to mechanical forces.
  • To highlight MS channels as model systems for understanding force-gated protein conformational changes.

Main Methods:

  • Direct observation of ion flux through single channel proteins using patch clamp techniques.
  • Cloning, crystallization, and in-depth biophysical and genetic analyses of MS channels (MscL and MscS).

Main Results:

  • Bacterial MS channels (MscL and MscS) are well-characterized models for studying mechanotransduction.
  • Eukaryotic microbes possess homologs of MS channels, including those related to the TRP superfamily in animals.
  • Yeast MS channels demonstrate direct sensitivity to membrane stretch.

Conclusions:

  • Proteins integrated within the lipid bilayer can sense and react to mechanical environmental changes.
  • Understanding MS channels provides insights into cellular mechanosensing and adaptation mechanisms.