A dietary fatty acid counteracts neuronal mechanical sensitization

Nat Commun. 2020 Jun 19;11(1):2997. doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-16816-2.

Abstract

PIEZO2 is the essential transduction channel for touch discrimination, vibration, and proprioception. Mice and humans lacking Piezo2 experience severe mechanosensory and proprioceptive deficits and fail to develop tactile allodynia. Bradykinin, a proalgesic agent released during inflammation, potentiates PIEZO2 activity. Molecules that decrease PIEZO2 function could reduce heightened touch responses during inflammation. Here, we find that the dietary fatty acid margaric acid (MA) decreases PIEZO2 function in a dose-dependent manner. Chimera analyses demonstrate that the PIEZO2 beam is a key region tuning MA-mediated channel inhibition. MA reduces neuronal action potential firing elicited by mechanical stimuli in mice and rat neurons and counteracts PIEZO2 sensitization by bradykinin. Finally, we demonstrate that this saturated fatty acid decreases PIEZO2 currents in touch neurons derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells. Our findings report on a natural product that inhibits PIEZO2 function and counteracts neuronal mechanical sensitization and reveal a key region for channel inhibition.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, N.I.H., Intramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Action Potentials / drug effects
  • Action Potentials / physiology
  • Algorithms
  • Animals
  • Cells, Cultured
  • Fatty Acids / administration & dosage*
  • Humans
  • Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells / drug effects
  • Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells / metabolism
  • Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells / physiology
  • Ion Channels / antagonists & inhibitors*
  • Ion Channels / genetics
  • Ion Channels / metabolism
  • Mechanotransduction, Cellular / drug effects*
  • Mechanotransduction, Cellular / genetics
  • Mechanotransduction, Cellular / physiology
  • Mice, Inbred C57BL
  • Mice, Knockout
  • Neurons / drug effects*
  • Neurons / metabolism
  • Neurons / physiology
  • Proprioception / drug effects*
  • Proprioception / genetics
  • Proprioception / physiology
  • Rats
  • Touch / drug effects
  • Touch / physiology

Substances

  • Fatty Acids
  • Ion Channels
  • PIEZO2 protein, human
  • margaric acid

Associated data

  • figshare/10.6084/m9.figshare.12192630