Bacterial mechanosensitive channels: integrating physiology, structure and function

P Blount; P C Moe

doi:10.1016/s0966-842x(99)01594-2

Bacterial mechanosensitive channels: integrating physiology, structure and function

Trends Microbiol. 1999 Oct;7(10):420-4. doi: 10.1016/s0966-842x(99)01594-2.

Authors

P Blount¹, P C Moe

Affiliation

¹ Dept of Physiology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Centre, Dallas, TX 75235-9040, USA. pblount@mednet.swmed.edu

PMID: 10498951
DOI: 10.1016/s0966-842x(99)01594-2

Abstract

When confronted with hypo-osmotic stress, many bacterial species are able rapidly to adapt to the increase in cell turgor pressure by jettisoning cytoplasmic solutes into the medium through membrane-tension-gated channels. Physiological studies have confirmed the importance of these channels in osmoregulation. Mutagenesis of one of these channels, combined with structural information derived from X-ray crystallography, has given the first clues of how a mechanosensitive channel senses and responds to membrane tension.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Review

MeSH terms

Bacteria / genetics
Bacteria / metabolism*
Crystallography, X-Ray
Electrophysiology
Escherichia coli Proteins*
Ion Channel Gating / physiology
Ion Channels / chemistry*
Ion Channels / physiology*
Models, Molecular
Protein Conformation
Structure-Activity Relationship

Substances

Escherichia coli Proteins
Ion Channels
MscL protein, E coli