Molecular mechanism of the Mechanosensitive ion channel NOMPC.

NOMPC is involved in mechanosensation of touch and hearing in flies. Unlike many mechanosensitive ion channels that sense membrane tension or force in the membrane, NOMPC has been proposed to sense force out of the membrane through a gating spring. In collaboration with groups of Yifan Cheng and Yuh-Nung Jan in UCSF, we have been investigating whether and how force modulates the ion conductance of NOMPC, using optical tweezers and fluorescence imaging.

P. Jin, D. Bulkley, Y. M. Guo, W. Zhang, Z. H. Guo, W. Huynh, S. P. Wu, S. Meltzer, T. Cheng, L. Y. Jan, Y. N. Jan, Y. F. Cheng, Electron cryo-microscopy structure of the mechanotransduction channel NOMPC. Nature 547, 118 (2017).

W. Zhang, L. E. Cheng, M. Kittelmann, J. F. Li, M. Petkovic, T. Cheng, P. Jin, Z. H. Guo, M. C. Gopfert, L. Y. Jan, Y. N. Jan, Ankyrin repeats convey force to gate the NOMPC mechanotransduction channel. Cell 162, 1391 (2015).