NOMPC ion channel hinge forms a gating spring that initiates mechanosensation

The sensation of mechanical stimuli is initiated by elastic gating springs that pull open mechanosensory transduction channels. Searches for gating springs have focused on force-conveying protein tethers such as the amino-terminal ankyrin tether of the Drosophila mechanosensory transduction channel NOMPC. Here, by combining protein domain duplications with mechanical measurements, electrophysiology, molecular dynamics simulations and modeling, we identify the NOMPC gating-spring as the short linker between the ankyrin tether and the channel gate. This linker acts as a Hookean hinge that is ten times more elastic than the tether, with the linker hinge dictating channel gating and the intrinsic stiffness of the gating spring. Our study shows how mechanosensation is initiated molecularly; disentangles gating springs and tethers, and respective paradigms of channel gating; and puts forward gating springs as core ion channel constituents that enable efficient gating by diverse stimuli and in a wide variety of channels.