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

所提出的项目是基于申请人最近取得的进展，通过（i）鉴定细胞壁生物体中的机械敏感（MS）通道的新家族，所述细胞壁生物体包括芽孢杆菌和细菌（原核生物），以及真菌和植物（真核生物），和（ii）确定MscL的结构动力学的基本方面，原型MS通道，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。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的机械感觉转导的生物物理学和生理学具有根本的重要性。

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.