From membrane tension to channel gating: A principal energy transfer mechanism for mechanosensitive channels

Zhang, Xuejun C.; Li, Jie

doi:10.1002/pro.3017

Cited by 26 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 54 publications

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“…Sugar transport is usually very efficient and might increase the internal pressure to a deleterious level. Also, a variety of metabolites and ions may suddenly be absent in the environment, placing the cell in low osmolarity: this would result in membrane disruption, unless specific safety valves, the mechanosensitive channels where opening pores in the membrane is reminiscent of the iris diaphragm movement (Zhang et al ., ).…”

Section: Any Important Need Elicits An Adaptive Functionsupporting

confidence: 55%

No wisdom in the crowd: genome annotation in the era of big data – current status and future prospects

Danchin

Ouzounis

Tokuyasu

et al. 2018

Microbial Biotechnology

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SummaryScience and engineering rely on the accumulation and dissemination of knowledge to make discoveries and create new designs. Discovery‐driven genome research rests on knowledge passed on via gene annotations. In response to the deluge of sequencing big data, standard annotation practice employs automated procedures that rely on majority rules. We argue this hinders progress through the generation and propagation of errors, leading investigators into blind alleys. More subtly, this inductive process discourages the discovery of novelty, which remains essential in biological research and reflects the nature of biology itself. Annotation systems, rather than being repositories of facts, should be tools that support multiple modes of inference. By combining deduction, induction and abduction, investigators can generate hypotheses when accurate knowledge is extracted from model databases. A key stance is to depart from ‘the sequence tells the structure tells the function’ fallacy, placing function first. We illustrate our approach with examples of critical or unexpected pathways, using MicroScope to demonstrate how tools can be implemented following the principles we advocate. We end with a challenge to the reader.

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Section: Any Important Need Elicits An Adaptive Functionsupporting

confidence: 55%

No wisdom in the crowd: genome annotation in the era of big data – current status and future prospects

Danchin

Ouzounis

Tokuyasu

et al. 2018

Microbial Biotechnology

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“…Those authors found that SpoVAC-myc-His 6 protected E. coli to a similar extent as MscL, a well-studied mechanosensing membrane protein (45, 46). The authors further characterized the protein in conductance studies and found that, when recombinant-expressed in E. coli and embedded in lipid vesicles, SpoVAC had a pore size of 4.6 Å (13).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Dipicolinic Acid Release by Germinating Clostridium difficile Spores Occurs through a Mechanosensing Mechanism

Francis

Sorg

2016

mSphere

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Clostridium difficile is transmitted between hosts in the form of a dormant spore, and germination by C. difficile spores is required to initiate infection, because the toxins that are necessary for disease are not deposited on the spore form. Importantly, the C. difficile spore germination pathway represents a novel pathway for bacterial spore germination. Prior work has shown that the order of events during C. difficile spore germination (cortex degradation and DPA release) is flipped compared to the events during B. subtilis spore germination, a model organism. Here, we further characterize the C. difficile spore germination pathway and summarize our findings indicating that DPA release by germinating C. difficile spores occurs through a mechanosensing mechanism in response to the degradation of the spore cortex.

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“…These pressure changes stretch the membrane to alter the lateral pressure profile, the complex profile of forces that vary with location across the bilayer (11)(12)(13). MS channels embedded within the bilayer have been shown to directly respond to these changes (14,15). The application of either positive or negative pressure increases the overall tension within both leaflets of the bilayer, and there is now a large body of evidence demonstrating how such changes in lateral tension underlie the activation of MS channels (2)(3)(4)(5).…”

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confidence: 99%

Asymmetric mechanosensitivity in a eukaryotic ion channel

Clausen

Jarerattanachat

Carpenter

et al. 2017

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Living organisms perceive and respond to a diverse range of mechanical stimuli. A variety of mechanosensitive ion channels have evolved to facilitate these responses, but the molecular mechanisms underlying their exquisite sensitivity to different forces within the membrane remains unclear. TREK-2 is a mammalian twopore domain (K2P) K + channel important for mechanosensation, and recent studies have shown how increased membrane tension favors a more expanded conformation of the channel within the membrane. These channels respond to a complex range of mechanical stimuli, however, and it is uncertain how differences in tension between the inner and outer leaflets of the membrane contribute to this process. To examine this, we have combined computational approaches with functional studies of oppositely oriented single channels within the same lipid bilayer. Our results reveal how the asymmetric structure of TREK-2 allows it to distinguish a broad profile of forces within the membrane, and illustrate the mechanisms that eukaryotic mechanosensitive ion channels may use to detect and fine-tune their responses to different mechanical stimuli.any forms of sensory perception in higher organisms depend on the rapid conversion of mechanical and physical stimuli into the electrochemical language of nerve and muscle cells (1). These transduction mechanisms often involve "mechanosensitive" (MS) ion channels that are able to rapidly convert physicomechanical stimuli into the electrical signals required for complex physiological responses (e.g., touch, pain, hearing, proprioception), as well those mechanical signals that play key roles in development and cell-cell communication (2). The enormous complexity and diversity of these sensory responses suggests that a variety of molecular mechanisms are likely responsible; for example, while some channels are regulated via physical coupling to proteins of the cytoskeleton and/or cell matrix, others respond directly to changes in lipid membrane tension (3). The precise structural and physical mechanisms underlying these processes remain poorly understood, however (4-6).Our current understanding of how membrane tension directly regulates ion channel gating is largely derived from studies of prokaryotic MS ion channels involved in the control of bacterial turgor pressure (7,8). The open state of these MS channels has a larger cross-sectional area than the closed state within the membrane, and stretch-induced changes in the forces within the bilayer stabilize the expanded open-state conformation. This is commonly referred to as the force-from-lipid principle of mechanosensitivity (9). Similar physical principles are thought to regulate many eukaryotic MS channels (5, 10).Typically, the functional activity of MS ion channels is examined in pipette-based patch-clamp recordings in which negative or positive pressures are used to alter bilayer tension. These pressure changes stretch the membrane to alter the lateral pressure profile, the complex profile of forces that vary with location acro...

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From membrane tension to channel gating: A principal energy transfer mechanism for mechanosensitive channels

Cited by 26 publications

References 54 publications

No wisdom in the crowd: genome annotation in the era of big data – current status and future prospects

No wisdom in the crowd: genome annotation in the era of big data – current status and future prospects

Dipicolinic Acid Release by Germinating Clostridium difficile Spores Occurs through a Mechanosensing Mechanism

Asymmetric mechanosensitivity in a eukaryotic ion channel

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