Spicing up the sensation of stretch: TRPV1 controls mechanosensitive Piezo channels

Abstract

Piezo proteins--a family of mammalian cation-selective ion channels that respond to mechanical stretch--are molecular mediators of biological processes, including vascular tone, hearing, touch, and pain. In this issue of Science Signaling, Rohacs and colleagues demonstrate that activation of the heat-sensitive transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1), another cation channel, inhibits Piezo channels through a calcium-induced depletion of phosphoinositides. This regulation could contribute to the cellular mechanisms by which the TRPV1 activator capsaicin mitigates mechanical hypersensitivity.