AUTHOR=Stewart Teneale A. , Davis Felicity M. 

TITLE=Formation and Function of Mammalian Epithelia: Roles for Mechanosensitive PIEZO1 Ion Channels

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology

VOLUME=Volume 7 - 2019

YEAR=2019

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/cell-and-developmental-biology/articles/10.3389/fcell.2019.00260

DOI=10.3389/fcell.2019.00260

ISSN=2296-634X

ABSTRACT=As with evolving landscapes, mechanical forces play important roles in shaping mammalian development. In the embryo, cells experience force both during the formation of the mammalian body plan and in the ensuing phase of organogenesis. Physical forces—including fluid flow, compression, radial pressure, contraction and osmotic pressure—continue to play central roles as organs mature, function and ultimately dysfunction. Multiple mechanisms exist to receive, transduce and transmit mechanical forces in mammalian epithelial tissues and to integrate these cues, which can both fluctuate and coincide, with local and systemic chemical signals. Drawing near a decade since the discovery of the bona fide mechanically-activated ion channel, PIEZO1, we discuss in this mini-review established and emerging roles for this protein in the form and function of mammalian epithelia.