Early evolutionary origins of mechanosensory transduction: structure, function and phylogenetic studies of the family of mechanosensitive channels in cell-walled organisms.

机械感觉转导的早期进化起源：细胞壁生物中机械敏感通道家族的结构、功能和系统发育研究。该项目的基础是申请者最近取得的进展：(I)在细胞壁生物体中识别一类新的机械敏感(MS)通道，包括古生菌和细菌(原核生物)以及真菌和植物(真核生物)，以及(Ii)使用电子顺磁共振光谱和分子动力学模拟结合膜片钳技术确定MS原型通道MSCL的结构动力学的基本方面。该项目的目的是阐明MS通道功能的分子原理，这对于理解整个生物世界中机械感觉转导的生物物理学和生理学具有重要意义。

Early evolutionary origins of mechanosensory transduction: structure, function and phylogenetic studies of the family of mechanosensitive channels in cell-walled organisms. The proposed project is based on the recent progress the applicants have made by (i) identifying a novel family of mechanosensitive (MS) channels in cell-walled organisms, which include Archaea and Bacteria (prokaryotes), as well as fungi and plants (eukaryotes), and (ii) determining basic aspects of the structural dynamics of MscL, the prototype MS channel, using electronparamagnetic resonance spectroscopy and molecular dynamics simulations in combination with the patch clamp technique. The aim of the project is to elucidate the molecular principles underlying the function of MS channels, which is of fundamental importance for understanding of the biophysics and physiology of mechanosensory transduction throughout the biological world.