2.16 - Genetics of Mechanoreceptor Evolution and Development

Mechanosensation at its core requires opening transmembrane proteins through mechanical forces. Such forces can act within the lipid bilayer (force-by-lipid) or though intracellular and/or extracellular connections (force-by-tether). Building on the assumption that specialized, tethered mechanotransduction channels evolved from lipid embedded channels, the current literature is reviewed. Data reveal multiple families of mechanotransduction channels that evolved in single celled organisms but were also sensitive to other sensory stimulations. Several of these channels were eventualy recruited to become mechnosenstive channels in metazoans. Why and how the TMC channels were selected for and become part of or the actual mechanotransduction channel of vertebrate hair cells is discussed.