scholarly journals A common polymorphism in the mechanosensitive ion channel PIEZO1 is associated with protection from severe malaria in humans

2020 ◽  
Vol 117 (16) ◽  
pp. 9074-9081 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian N. Nguetse ◽  
Natasha Purington ◽  
Emily R. Ebel ◽  
Bikash Shakya ◽  
Marilou Tetard ◽  
...  

Malaria caused by the apicomplexan parasite Plasmodium falciparum has served as a strong evolutionary force throughout human history, selecting for red blood cell polymorphisms that confer innate protection against severe disease. Recently, gain-of-function mutations in the mechanosensitive ion channel PIEZO1 were shown to ameliorate Plasmodium parasite growth, blood–brain barrier dysfunction, and mortality in a mouse model of malaria. In humans, the gain-of-function allele PIEZO1 E756del is highly prevalent and enriched in Africans, raising the possibility that it is under positive selection due to malaria. Here we used a case-control study design to test for an association between PIEZO1 E756del and malaria severity among children in Gabon. We found that the E756del variant is strongly associated with protection against severe malaria in heterozygotes. In subjects with sickle cell trait, heterozygosity for PIEZO1 E756del did not confer additive protection and homozygosity was associated with an elevated risk of severe disease, suggesting an epistatic relationship between hemoglobin S and PIEZO1 E756del. Using donor blood samples, we show that red cells heterozygous for PIEZO1 E756del are not dehydrated and can support the intracellular growth of P. falciparum similar to wild-type cells. However, surface expression of the P. falciparum virulence protein PfEMP-1 was significantly reduced in infected cells heterozygous for PIEZO1 756del, a phenomenon that has been observed with other protective polymorphisms, such as hemoglobin C. Our findings demonstrate that PIEZO1 is an important innate determinant of malaria susceptibility in humans and suggest that the mechanism of protection may be related to impaired export of P. falciparum virulence proteins.

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian N. Nguetse ◽  
Natasha Purington ◽  
Bikash Shakya ◽  
Emily R. Ebel ◽  
Peter G. Kremsner ◽  
...  

AbstractMalaria caused by the Apicomplexan parasite Plasmodium falciparum has served as a strong evolutionary force throughout human history, selecting for red blood cell polymorphisms that confer innate protection against severe disease. Recently, gain-of-function mutations in the mechanosensitive ion channel PIEZO1 were shown to ameliorate Plasmodium parasite growth, blood-brain barrier dysfunction, and mortality in a mouse model of malaria. In humans, the gain-of-function allele PIEZO1 E756del is highly prevalent and enriched in Africans, raising the possibility that it is under positive selection due to malaria. Here we used a case-control study design to test for an association between PIEZO1 E756del and malaria severity among children in Gabon. We found that the E756del variant is strongly associated with protection against severe malaria in heterozygotes, independent of the protection conferred by the sickle cell trait (hemoglobin AS). In vitro experiments using donor red blood cells failed to find an effect of E756del on parasite growth, suggesting this variant confers a mild channel defect and/or that its protective effect may be mediated by other tissue types in vivo. Nonetheless, we show that Yoda1, a small molecule agonist of PIEZO1, has potent antimalarial activity in both E756del and wild-type red blood cells. Our findings demonstrate that PIEZO1 is an important innate determinant of malaria susceptibility in humans and holds potential as druggable host target for malaria control.


2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (6) ◽  
pp. e1009659
Author(s):  
Jens E. V. Petersen ◽  
Joseph W. Saelens ◽  
Elizabeth Freedman ◽  
Louise Turner ◽  
Thomas Lavstsen ◽  
...  

Sickle-trait hemoglobin protects against severe Plasmodium falciparum malaria. Severe malaria is governed in part by the expression of the Plasmodium falciparum Erythrocyte Membrane Protein 1 (PfEMP1) that are encoded by var genes, specifically those variants that bind Endothelial Protein C Receptor (EPCR). In this study, we investigate the effect of sickle-trait on parasite var gene expression and function in vitro and in field-collected parasites. We mapped var gene reads generated from RNA sequencing in parasite cultures in normal and sickle-cell trait blood throughout the asexual lifecycle. We investigated sickle-trait effect on PfEMP1 interactions with host receptors CD36 and EPCR using static adhesion assays and flow cytometry. Var expression in vivo was compared by assembling var domains sequenced from total RNA in parasites infecting Malian children with HbAA and HbAS. Sickle-trait did not alter the abundance or type of var gene transcripts in vitro, nor the abundance of overall transcripts or of var functional domains in vivo. In adhesion assays using recombinant host receptors, sickle-trait reduced adhesion by 73–86% to CD36 and 83% to EPCR. Similarly, sickle-trait reduced the surface expression of EPCR-binding PfEMP1. In conclusion, Sickle-cell trait does not directly affect var gene transcription but does reduce the surface expression and function of PfEMP1. This provides a direct mechanism for protection against severe malaria conferred by sickle-trait hemoglobin. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02645604.


2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
K. M. Lawrence ◽  
R. C. Jones ◽  
T. R. Jackson ◽  
R. L. Baylie ◽  
B. Abbott ◽  
...  

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 309-320 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua T. Morgan ◽  
Wade G. Stewart ◽  
Robert A. McKee ◽  
Jason P. Gleghorn

1997 ◽  
Vol 73 (4) ◽  
pp. 1925-1931 ◽  
Author(s):  
C.C. Cruickshank ◽  
R.F. Minchin ◽  
A.C. Le Dain ◽  
B. Martinac

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Beaulieu-Laroche ◽  
M. Christin ◽  
AM Donoghue ◽  
F. Agosti ◽  
N. Yousefpour ◽  
...  

SummaryMechanotransduction, the conversion of mechanical stimuli into electrical signals, is a fundamental process underlying several physiological functions such as touch and pain sensing, hearing and proprioception. This process is carried out by specialized mechanosensitive ion channels whose identities have been discovered for most functions except pain sensing. Here we report the identification of TACAN (Tmem120A), an essential subunit of the mechanosensitive ion channel responsible for sensing mechanical pain. TACAN is expressed in a subset of nociceptors, and its heterologous expression increases mechanically-evoked currents in cell lines. Purification and reconstitution of TACAN in synthetic lipids generates a functional ion channel. Finally, knocking down TACAN decreases the mechanosensitivity of nociceptors and reduces behavioral responses to mechanical but not to thermal pain stimuli, without affecting the sensitivity to touch stimuli. We propose that TACAN is a pore-forming subunit of the mechanosensitive ion channel responsible for sensing mechanical pain.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Huascar Pedro Ortuste Quiroga ◽  
Shingo Yokoyama ◽  
Massimo Ganassi ◽  
Kodai Nakamura ◽  
Tomohiro Yamashita ◽  
...  

AbstractMechanical stimuli such as stretch and resistance training are essential to regulate growth and function of skeletal muscle. However, the molecular mechanisms involved in sensing mechanical stress remain unclear. Here, the purpose of this study was to investigate the role of the mechanosensitive ion channel Piezo1 during myogenic progression. Muscle satellite cell-derived myoblasts and myotubes were modified with stretch, siRNA knockdown and agonist-induced activation of Piezo1. Direct manipulation of Piezo1 modulates terminal myogenic progression. Piezo1 knockdown suppressed myoblast fusion during myotube formation and maturation. This was accompanied by downregulation of the fusogenic protein Myomaker. Piezo1 knockdown also lowered Ca2+ influx in response to stretch. Conversely Piezo1 activation stimulated fusion and increased Ca2+ influx in response to stretch. These evidences indicate that Piezo1 is essential for myotube formation and maturation, which may have implications for msucular dystrophy prevention through its role as a mechanosensitive Ca2+ channel.


Author(s):  
Yuhao Zhang ◽  
Sheng-an Su ◽  
Wudi Li ◽  
Yuankun Ma ◽  
Jian Shen ◽  
...  

Hemodynamic overload induces pathological cardiac hypertrophy, which is an independent risk factor for intractable heart failure in long run. Beyond neurohumoral regulation, mechanotransduction has been recently recognized as a major regulator of cardiac hypertrophy under a myriad of conditions. However, the identification and molecular features of mechanotransducer on cardiomyocytes are largely sparse. For the first time, we identified Piezo1 (Piezo type mechanosensitive ion channel component 1), a novel mechanosensitive ion channel with preference to Ca 2+ was remarkably upregulated under pressure overload and enriched near T-tubule and intercalated disc of cardiomyocyte. By applying cardiac conditional Piezo1 knockout mice (Piezo1 fl/fl Myh6Cre+, Piezo1 Cko ) undergoing transverse aortic constriction, we demonstrated that Piezo1 was required for the development of cardiac hypertrophy and subsequent adverse remodeling. Activation of Piezo1 by external mechanical stretch or agonist Yoda1 lead to the enlargement of cardiomyocytes in vitro, which was blocked by Piezo1 silencing or Yoda1 analog Dooku1 or Piezo1 inhibitor GsMTx4. Mechanistically, Piezo1 perturbed calcium homeostasis, mediating extracellular Ca 2+ influx and intracellular Ca 2+ overload, thereby increased the activation of Ca 2+ -dependent signaling, calcineurin, and calpain. Inhibition of calcineurin or calpain could abolished Yoda1 induced upregulation of hypertrophy markers and the hypertrophic growth of cardiomyocytes in vitro. From a comprehensive view of the cardiac transcriptome, most of Piezo1 affected genes were highly enriched in muscle cell physiology, tight junction, and corresponding signaling. This study characterizes an undefined role of Piezo1 in pressure overload induced cardiac hypertrophy. It may partially decipher the differential role of calcium under pathophysiological condition, implying a promising therapeutic target for cardiac dysfunction.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia Rico ◽  
Aleixandre Rodrigo-Navarro ◽  
Laura Sánchez Pérez ◽  
Manuel Salmeron-Sanchez

AbstractThe intrinsic properties of Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSCs) make them ideal candidates for tissue engineering applications as they are regulated by the different signals present in the stem cell niche. Considerable efforts have been made to control stem cell behavior by designing material system approaches to engineer synthetic extracellular matrices and/or include soluble factors in the media. This work proposes a novel and simple approach based on ion-channel stimulation to determine stem cell fate that avoids the use of growth factors (GFs). We used boron ion - essential item in cell metabolism - transported inside cells by the NaBC1-channel. Addition of boron alone enhanced MSC adhesion and contractility, promoted osteogenesis and inhibited adipogenesis. The stimulated NaBC1 promoted osteogenesis via activation of the BMP canonical pathway (comprising Smad1 and YAP nucleus translocation and osteopontin expression) through a mechanism that involves simultaneous NaBC1/BMPR1A and NaBC1/α5β1/αvβ3 co-localization,. We describe a novel function for NaBC1 as a mechanosensitive ion-channel capable of interacting and stimulating GF receptors and fibronectin-binding integrins. Our results open up new biomaterial engineering approaches for biomedical applications by a cost-effective strategy that avoids the use of soluble GFs.


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