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STRUCTURAL BIOLOGY: Force and Voltage Sensors in One Structure
Francisco Bezanilla and Eduardo Perozo
To respond to sudden changes in osmolality, most prokaryotes have mechanosensitive channels that open in response to tension and so prevent the cell-membrane from bursting. In their perspective, Bezanilla and Perozo discuss new work (Basset al.) on the structure of a small-conductance mechanosensitive channel (MscS) that provides new insights into how the cell senses and responds to changes in tension and voltage.
F. Bezanilla is in the Departments of Physiology and Anesthesiology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA. E-mail: fbezanil{at}ucla.edu E. Perozo is in the Department of Molecular Physiology and Biological Physics, School of Medicine, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22908, USA. E-mail: eperozo{at}virginia.edu
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