Piezo2 Integrates Mechanical and Thermal Cues in Vertebrate Mechanoreceptors

Abstract

The detection of mechanical touch and temperature is essential for interaction with the physical world. Here, we report that cold potentiates the transformation of mechanical touch into ionic current in cutaneous mechanoreceptors from different vertebrate animals. We found that cold increases the peak amplitude of mechanically activated current in all subtypes of mechanoreceptor sensory neurons in mice and ducks. We show that this process is mediated by the mechanosensitive ion channel Piezo2, the principal detector of touch in somatosensory neurons. This effect can be replicated in heterologous systems. In contrast, in HEK293T cells, cold inhibited mechanically activated current of Piezo1, supporting the idea that this channel is highly sensitive to changes in the physical properties of the plasma membrane. By swapping the membrane-embedded blade domains between Piezo2 and Piezo1, we demonstrate that the blade domains are essential for cold-induced potentiation of Piezo2. Together, these results reveal that somatosensory neurons can directly integrate thermal and mechanical stimuli via Piezo2, and that such integration is dependent on the blade domains of the channel. Zheng, W., Nikolaev, Y.A., Gracheva, E.O. and Bagriantsev, S.N., 2019. Piezo2 integrates mechanical and thermal cues in vertebrate mechanoreceptors. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 116(35), pp.17547-17555.