Researchers from Duke University presented findings from a study that aimed to assess the physiological role of Piezo1, a mechano-gated ion channel that is highly expressed in pancreatic acinar cells, in the exocrine pancreas.
Prune belly syndrome (PBS), also known as Eagle-Barrett syndrome, is a rare multisystemic congenital myopathy that mainly affects males, and which is incompletely understood genetically speaking.
In 2021, Ardem Patapoutian won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discovery of the mechanosensitive receptors Piezo1 and Piezo2. The receptors, which are ion channels that respond to mechanical pressure, are important in touch sensation, as well as regulating processes including bladder control and blood pressure. Now, investigators at The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Canada, and Central South University’s Xiangya Hospital have discovered a decidedly ignoble role for Piezo2.
New treatments for cardiac hypertrophy, a thickening of the heart in response to pressure overload, could potentially treat or even reverse the condition after a new breakthrough discovery identified the mechanism that causes the heart's muscle to thicken, increasing the risk of irregular heart rhythms and heart failure.
The 2021 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded Oct. 4 to David Julius and Ardem Patapoutian “for their discoveries of receptors for temperature and touch.”
