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Publications

Journal Article Ahead of print

PubMed: 40721314 DOI: 10.1101/cshperspect.a041806

PIEZO Force Sensors and the Heart.

Cold Spring Harb Perspect Biol

Authors: Anna McGrane, Michael Murray, Fiona Bartoli, Marilena Giannoudi, Marcella Conning-Rowland, Leander Stewart, Eylem Levelt, Richard M Cubbon, Erica Dall'Armellina, Kathryn J Griffin, Kate M Herum, Andrew J Smith, David J Beech

Affiliations

  • Leeds Institute of Cardiovascular and Metabolic Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, United Kingdom.
  • Department of Cardiology, Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, Leeds LS2 9JT, United Kingdom.
  • Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute, Melbourne, Victoria 3004, Australia.
  • Department of Histopathology, Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, Leeds LS2 9JT, United Kingdom.
  • Research and Early Development, NovoNordisk A/S, Maaloev 2760, Denmark.
  • School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, United Kingdom.
  • Leeds Institute of Cardiovascular and Metabolic Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, United Kingdom.

Abstract

The PIEZO1 and PIEZO2 membrane proteins form uniquely structured calcium permeable nonselective cation channels dedicated to mechanical force sensing in eukaryotic cells. In this review of the scientific literature, we address PIEZOs in the heart. PIEZOs enable the formation of the aortic valve, cardiac vasculature, and pericardial drainage. In the established heart, they enable baroreceptor pressure sensing and reflex regulation of the heart rate and influence the heart's size and stiffness through roles in cardiac myocytes and cardiac fibroblasts. Therefore, mechanical force sensing by PIEZOs participates in normal cardiac development and function. There is also interest in PIEZOs in pathophysiology, when the structure and mechanical properties of the heart often change. Studies in rats and mice suggest that experimentally induced cardiac stress and injury cause PIEZO upregulation that is adverse. Similar changes may occur in human heart disease, creating potential for therapeutic benefit through PIEZO modulation. This is a productive, accelerating, and exciting new research topic with importance for our understanding of the heart and its diseases.

MeSH

Molecular Biology, Heart