Question

Discuss the different stages of mechanotransduction.

PLEASE, include the references this is for a biomaterial course.

Answer 1

Answer: Transduction is referencing as the conversion of electrical energy into biochemical signals.In nerve transmission we are having stimulus moving down the axon which is going to cause the change in membrane potential which ultimately cause the voltage gated calcium potassium channel to open up. The mechanotransduction is also same as the normal mechanism of transduction but here instead of using electrochemical gradient we have to work on mechanical gradient. So here the cells or tissue have to apply strong enough mechanical force mechanically voltage gated channel which is going to open and close and respond which ultimately cause the membrane potential to alter.There are various significance of mechanotransduction as:

developmental gene expression(embryology)

cell migration

cell proliferation

stem cell differentiation

hearing touch balance

Mechanotransduction consists of three stages:

(a) Mechanoreception:It is the first stage where the identification or   detection of the stimulus will take place. Here we receive signal from  outside the cell to inside of cell environment.

(b) Intracellular signal transduction: After receiving the stimulus inside the cell the migration of stimulus or transduction of the stimulus occur at the location where the cell need to generate the molecular response.

(c) Target activation: Now here by the alteration of membrane potential due to generation of different proteins needed for activation will result in the alteration of cell behavior through a variety of different mechanisms.

So overall we can conclude that the process of mechanocoupling--------- biochemical coupling------- transmission of signal from sensor cell to effector cell-------- effector cell responce are involved in mechanotransduction mechanism.