Abstract
Touch sensation or proprioception requires the transduction of mechanical stimuli into electrical signals by mechanoreceptors in the periphery. These mechanoreceptors are equipped with various transducer channels. Although Piezo1 and 2 are mechanically activated (MA) channels with rapid inactivation, MA molecules with other inactivation kinetics have not been identified. Here we report that heterologously expressed Tentonin3 (TTN3)/TMEM150C is activated by mechanical stimuli with distinctly slow inactivation kinetics. Genetic ablation of Ttn3/Tmem150c markedly reduced slowly adapting neurons in dorsal-root ganglion neurons. The MA TTN3 currents were inhibited by known blockers of mechanosensitive ion channels. Moreover, TTN3 was localized in muscle spindle afferents. Ttn3-deficient mice exhibited the loss of coordinated movements and abnormal gait. Thus, TTN3 appears to be a component of a mechanosensitive channel with a slow inactivation rate and contributes to motor coordination. Identification of this gene advances our understanding of the various types of mechanosensations, including proprioception.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 107-118 |
| Number of pages | 12 |
| Journal | Neuron |
| Volume | 91 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 6 Jul 2016 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:We thank Prof. John N. Wood, FRS, University College London, for his critical comments on the manuscript. We also thank Prof. Myoung-Hwan Kim, Department of Physiology, Seoul National University, for his technical assistance. This study was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea, funded by the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (2011-0018358) and by the BK21+ program of the Ministry of Education of Korea.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 Elsevier Inc.