Dynamic plasticity of Piezo2 and mechanosensation in the somatosensory system during maturation and aging (A09)

• Subject Area: Molecular Biology and Physiology of Neurons and Glial Cells ; Cognitive, Systems and Behavioural Neurobiology
• Term: from 2015 to 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 154113120

Piezo2 ion channels play an important role in the detection and transduction of mechanical stimuli in the vertebrate somatosensory system and are thus indispensable for our sense of touch and proprioception. Our work during the second funding period has shed new light onto the piezo2 interactome and has deepened our understanding of the regulation of piezo2. We now want to approach another so far unanswered question about piezo2 and the sense of touch: If, when, and how piezo2 is regulated during normal development and aging in mice. We expect that the study of this “physiological plasticity” will increase our mechanistic understanding of the sense of touch.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres
• Subproject of: SFB 889: Cellular Mechanisms of Sensory Processing
• Applicant Institution: Georg-August-Universität Göttingen
• Project Head: Professorin Dr. Manuela Schmidt, until 8/2021