# Role of Piezo2 and Nav channels in rapidly-adapting neuronal mechanoreceptors

> **NIH NIH R01** · YALE UNIVERSITY · 2021 · $366,406

## Abstract

Of all the sensory modalities possessed by vertebrates, the ability to sense mechanical force remains
the least well understood at the cellular and molecular level. In the glabrous skin, touch is sensed by
Meissner and Pacinian corpuscles – the detectors of fine objects and minute skin deformations. The
corpuscles are innervated by rapidly-adapting neuronal mechanoreceptors, which can directly convert
touch into excitation, by an unknown mechanism. Here, we aim to elucidate this mechanism by
studying the mechanosensitivity in rapidly-adapting mechanoreceptors, using the trigeminal system of
the duck embryo as a model. Duck trigeminal ganglia contain a large proportion of rapidly-adapting
mechanoreceptors, which innervate the numerous Meissner- and Pacinian-like corpuscles in the
glabrous skin of the bill. Using this model, we aim to determine the role of stretch-sensitive cationic and
voltage-sensitive sodium channels in the three principal processes of touch sensitivity: (1) the
conversion of touch into excitatory current; (2) the generation of action potential, and (3) propagation of
the rapidly-adapting afferent message along the axon. Our studies will reveal cellular and molecular
principles underlying the sense of touch in rapidly-adapting neuronal mechanoreceptors.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10063569
- **Project number:** 5R01NS097547-05
- **Recipient organization:** YALE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Sviatoslav Bagriantsev
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $366,406
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2016-12-01 → 2021-11-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10063569

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10063569, Role of Piezo2 and Nav channels in rapidly-adapting neuronal mechanoreceptors (5R01NS097547-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10063569. Licensed CC0.

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