Large-conductance mechanosensitive channel

Mechanosensitive ion channels (MscL) play a critical role in transducing physical stresses at the cell membrane into an electrochemical response.^[1]

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MscL forms a channel organized as a homopentamer, with each subunit containing two transmembrane α-helices. Prokaryotes harbor a large-conductance mechanosensitive channel (gene mscL) that opens in response to stretch forces in the lipid bilayer and participate in the regulation of osmotic pressure within the cell.^[2]

References

^ Chang G, Spencer RH, Lee AT, Barclay MT, Rees DC (1998). "Structure of the MscL homolog from Mycobacterium tuberculosis: a gated mechanosensitive ion channel". Science 282 (5397): 2220–6. doi:10.1126/science.282.5397.2220. PMID 9856938.
^ Moe PC, Blount P, Kung C (1998). "Functional and structural conservation in the mechanosensitive channel MscL implicates elements crucial for mechanosensation". Mol. Microbiol. 28 (3): 583–92. doi:10.1046/j.1365-2958.1998.00821.x. PMID 9632260.