Piezo1, a mechanically activated ion channel, is required for vascular development in mice

Mechanosensation is perhaps the last sensory modality not understood at the molecular level. Ion channels that sense mechanical force are postulated to play critical roles in a variety of biological processes including sensing touch/pain (somatosensation), sound (hearing), and shear stress (cardiovascular physiology); however, the identity of these ion channels has remained elusive. We previously identified Piezo1 and Piezo2 as mechanically activated cation channels that are expressed in many mechanosensitive cell types. Here, we show that Piezo1 is expressed in endothelial cells of developing blood vessels in mice. Piezo1-deficient embryos die at midgestation with defects in vascular remodeling, a process…