InterPro domain: IPR016688

This entry represents a group of MscS-like (mechanosensitive channels of small conductance-like) proteins found in fungi and plants. Ten MscS-Like (MSL) proteins have been found in the genome of Arabidopsis thaliana [ 1 , 2 ]. In the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe the mechanosensitive ion channel proteins are known as Msy1 and Msy2 [ 3 ].

Mechanosensitive (MS) channels provide protection against hypo-osmotic shock, responding both to stretching of the cell membrane and to membrane depolarisation. They are present in the membranes of organisms from the three domains of life: bacteria, archaea, and eukarya [ 4 ]. There are two families of MS channels: large-conductance MS channels (MscL) and small-conductance MS channels (MscS or YGGB). The pressure threshold for MscS opening is 50% that of MscL [ 5 ]. The MscS family is much larger and more variable in size and sequence than the MscL family. Much of the diversity in MscS proteins occurs in the size of the transmembrane regions, which ranges from three to eleven transmembrane helices, although the three C-terminal helices are conserved.

In the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe the mechanosensitive ion channel proteins are known as Msy1 and Msy2 [ 6 ].

1. Two MscS homologs provide mechanosensitive channel activities in the Arabidopsis root. Curr. Biol. 18, 730-4
2. AtMSL9 and AtMSL10: Sensors of plasma membrane tension in Arabidopsis roots. Plant Signal Behav 3, 726-9
3. Organellar mechanosensitive channels in fission yeast regulate the hypo-osmotic shock response. Nat Commun 3, 1020
4. Two families of mechanosensitive channel proteins. Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev. 67, 66-85, table of contents
5. Crystal structure of Escherichia coli MscS, a voltage-modulated and mechanosensitive channel. Science 298, 1582-7