A Mechanism for Touch
A mechanism for touch

        

        
            
        
        
            
                
                    
                        

    
        
            
                NEWS AND VIEWS
                21 August 2019
                
            

            

            
                
                
                    Piezo proteins mediate the sense of touch. A near-complete structure of one such protein has been obtained, and the mechanism for converting mechanical signals into electrical ones has been probed in another.
                
            
        
        
            
    
        
            
                
                    Edwin W. McCleskey
                
                
                    
                        
                            Edwin W. McCleskey is in the Science Program of the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Redwood City, California 94002, USA.
                        
                    
                
                
                    
                
            
        
    

        
    
    


            
            


        
            
                
                    
                        

                        
                    
                
            

            
                

                

                
                    Our bodies can sense a wide array of mechanical stimuli: our sense of touch can distinguish between a soft breeze floating over the skin and a painful pinch, and other systems can detect the stretch of a muscle or even blood pressure. Our ability to sense these things requires an applied force to be turned into an electrical signal in the tiny endings of sensory neuronal cells that suffuse different tissues. Two related proteins, the Piezo1 and Piezo2 ion channels, mediate many of the mechanically stimulated processes in animals, by allowing positive ions to flow across the surface membrane of cells in response to force applied to the membrane1. Such mechano-electric transduction is mediated by Piezo2 in sensory neurons and by Piezo1 in non-neuronal cells that respond to forces such as shear and osmotic force2. Writing in Nature, Wang et al.3 report a remarkable, almost complete structure of Piezo2, and Lin et al.4 describe experiments that test how transduction occurs in Piezo1.
                    
                        Access options
                        

                        
                            
                                
                                


                                
    
    Access Nature and 54 other Nature Portfolio journalsGet Nature+, our best-value online-access subscription$29.99 / 30 dayscancel any timeSubscribe to this journalReceive 51 print issues and online access$199.00 per yearonly $3.90 per issueRent or buy this articlePrices vary by article typefrom$1.95to$39.95Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
  

    
    
        
    Additional access options:
    
        
            Log in
        
        
        
            Learn about institutional subscriptions
        
        
            Read our FAQs
        
        
            Contact customer support
        
    

    

                            
                        
                    
                
            
                Nature 573, 199-200 (2019)
                doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-019-02454-2

            ReferencesCoste, B. et al. Nature 483, 176–181 (2012).Article 
    PubMed 
    
                    Google Scholar 
                Murthy, S. E., Dubin, A. E. & Patapoutian, A. Nature Rev. Mol. Cell Biol. 18, 771–783 (2017).Article 
    PubMed 
    
                    Google Scholar 
                Wang, L. et al. Nature 573, 225–229 (2019).Article 
    
                    Google Scholar 
                Lin, Y.-C. et al. Nature 573, 230–234 (2019).Article 
    
                    Google Scholar 
                Ge, J. et al. Nature 527, 64–69 (2015).Article 
    PubMed 
    
                    Google Scholar 
                Saotome, K. et al. Nature 554, 481–486 (2018).Article 
    PubMed 
    
                    Google Scholar 
                Zhao, Q. et al. Nature 554, 487–492 (2018).Article 
    
                    Google Scholar 
                Guo, Y. R. & MacKinnon, R. eLife 6, e33660 (2017).Article 
    PubMed 
    
                    Google Scholar 
                Cheng, Y. Cell 161, 450–457 (2015).Article 
    PubMed 
    
                    Google Scholar 
                Mansoor, S. E. et al. Nature 538, 66–71 (2016).Article 
    PubMed 
    
                    Google Scholar 
                Chen, X. et al. J. Neurosci. 31, 6329–6338 (2011).Article 
    PubMed 
    
                    Google Scholar 
                Sasmal, D. K. & Lu, H. P. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 136, 12998–3005 (2014).Article 
    PubMed 
    
                    Google Scholar 
                Download references
            
                
            

            
                Related Articles
                
    
        
            
                
                    
                        
                            
                        
                        Read the paper: Force-induced conformational changes in PIEZO1
                    
                
            
        
            
                
                    
                        
                            
                        
                        Read the paper: Structure and mechanogating of the mammalian tactile channel PIEZO2
                    
                
            
        
            
                
                    
                        
                            
                        
                        Force-activated ion channels in close-up
                    
                
            
        
            
                
                    
                        
                            
                        
                        A gut feeling for cellular fate
                    
                
            
        
            
                
                    
                        
                        See all News & Views
                    
                
            
        
    

            

            
                Subjects
                
    

            
    Latest on:
    





            

        
            
                    
                
            
        

        

        
        
        
