Molecular Mechanism of Mechanosensation

描述（由申请人提供）：机械感觉提供了人类5种基本感觉中的两种——触觉和听觉。令人惊讶的是，看似简单的“触觉”在真核生物中缺乏令人满意的分子描述。问题仍然存在：细胞中的分子是如何感知和传递组织中的机械力的？在哺乳动物中，离子通道被认为在机械感觉中起作用；然而，对机械敏感通道的研究未能确定一个明确的结构域或特征，负责感知机械力。由于缺乏人类机械感觉的明确机制，需要可测试的假设来得出正确的模型。这一建议提出了一个论点，脂质与离子通道的相互作用是重要的机械感觉。形成力转导的分子描述将，一，完成我们对感觉知觉的理解，二，揭示疼痛和听力损失治疗干预的目标。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Mechanosensation provides two of the 5 fundamental senses integral to human sensation-touch and hearing. Surprisingly, the seemingly simple sense of "touch" lacks a satisfactory molecular description in eukaryotes. The question remains: How do molecules in a cell sense and transduce mechanical force in tissue? In mammals ion channels are believed to play a role in mechanosensation; however, studies of mechanosensitive channels have failed to identify a clear structural domain or feature responsible for sensing mechanical force. Absent a clear mechanism for mechanosensation in humans, testable hypotheses are needed to arrive at a correct model. This proposal presents an argument that lipid interactions with ion channels are important to mechano sensation. Forming a molecular description of force transduction will, one, complete our understanding of sensory perception and, two, reveal targets for therapeutic intervention in pain and hearing loss.